Russia and the US could do more to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Konstantin Kosachev, head of the Russian Federation Council Committee for International Affairs, said during his meeting with US Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, TASS reported.
“I cannot fail to mention the extremely dangerous development of events in the Nagorno-Karabakh region this night,” he said. “Russia and the US have been cooperating quite productively over this problem for years. However, we can really do a lot more to prevent any bloodshed—as the minimum duty. And the maximum duty is to achieve a political solution acceptable to all sides.”
On the night of April 2, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from large-caliber weapons, mortars, grenade launchers and guns.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council’s four resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Trend