Moscow, June 20, 2016 (AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin met on Monday his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan and Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev to try to consolidate the cease-fire in Nagorno-Karabakh, a region that both countries vie to and where intense fighting took place in April.
First, Putin met both leaders separately before lunch at three in St. Petersburg.
The two sides “are in particular agreed on increasing the number of international observers in the conflict zone,” said a joint statement released after the meeting.
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has not yet only six unarmed observers in the region.
“We want the conflict to be settled peacefully. I want to thank you and the leaders of other countries as co-chairs of the Minsk Group (for Karabakh), for your efforts on this issue, “said Serzh Sargsyan at the beginning of his meeting with Vladimir Putin, it said in a statement from the Kremlin.
He also called for “making progress in the implementation of signed agreements, including creating a monitoring mechanism of the cease-fire,” according to Russian news agencies.
Ilham Aliyev for his part, thanked Russia for its “constructive role in resolving” the conflict during his meeting with Putin, while calling for the “decolonization of the territory of Azerbaijan (…) occupied for over 20 years, “according to a statement from the Kremlin.
“The main task is to guard against a resumption of hostilities,” warned the spokesman of the Kremlin Dmitry Peskov.
Russia was on the initiative of the cease-fire signed in April, after four days of clashes that left at least 110 dead in total.
The conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh is an old quarter century. The fighting of April were the worst violence since a cease-fire agreement in 1994 after a war that is 30,000 dead and hundreds of thousands of refugees, mostly Azerbaijanis.
No peace treaty has however been signed between Baku and Yerevan on the Nagorno-Karabakh region populated mainly by Armenians but recognized as part of Azerbaijan by the international community.
Russia is close to the two countries, it is the main supplier of arms but concluded a military alliance with Yerevan.
Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev met in Vienna in mid-May by an international mediation, pledged to respect the cease-fire and to implement a monitoring mechanism of the cease-fire under the auspices the Organization for security and co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
However, the situation remains extremely volatile, sporadic fighting continues to erupt along the line.
Azerbaijan also announced last week that military maneuvers near the magnitude of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Stéphane © armenews.com