Foreign Ministry report marks Russia's active role in Nagorno Karabakh settlement

MOSCOW, December 29. /TASS/. Russia is using all available instruments in its mediatory activity for a settlement in the mostly Armenian-populated Azerbaijani enclave of Nagorno Karabakh, the Foreign Ministry said in a report summing up results of the outgoing year. "In view of the persisting difficult situation around the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, Russia has been playing an active role in rendering assistance to the sides in the conflict as a mediator, using all available instruments, comprising summit and high-level meetings," the ministry said on Tuesday. It said Russia’s initiatives were discussed in detail during President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Armenian capital Yerevan in April and Azerbaijan's capital Baku in June, and discussed during official visits to Moscow of the foreign minister of Armenia in April and Azerbaijan's foreign minister in May. "The statement of the heads of the delegations from the OSCE Minsk Group (Russia, the U.S. and France) at the OSCE Ministerial Council in Belgrade early in December fixed an urgent appeal to the sides to confirm their commitment to a peaceful settlement of the conflict and to continue work towards a comprehensive settlement on the basis of the existing proposals," the Foreign Ministry report said. Neighbouring Armenia and Azerbaijan fell out with each other in the late 1980s because of Nagorno-Karabakh, the disputed territory that had been part of Azerbaijan before the Soviet Union break-up but was mainly populated by Armenians. In 1991-1994, the confrontation spilled over into large-scale military action for control over the enclave and some adjacent territories. Thousands left their homes on both sides in a conflict that killed 30,000. A truce was called between Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh republic on one side and Azerbaijan on the other in May 1994. Read more