Violations of the cease-fire around Nagorno-Karabakh has declined significantly since Sunday’s meeting of the Armenian and 
Azerbaijani Presidents held court sponsored by their Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Thursday said a senior official in Stepanakert.
“The easing of tension is visible. The situation is generally stable now, “said Davit Babayan, spokesman of President Bako Sahakian Karabakh. “While there was an average of 400 violations per day Azerbaijan before the meeting in Sochi, they are now descended at about 30-40. They were reduced by more than ten times, “said Babayan Armenian service RFE / RL (Azatutyun.am).
The defense ministries of Armenia and Azerbaijan have also reported a steady decline in skirmishes along the “line of contact” in Karabakh and the Armenian-Azerbaijani border in recent days. None of the parties to the conflict in Karabakh has reported losses in battle after discussions Sunday between Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev in the presence of Vladimir Putin.
Putin welcomed the talks after a sharp escalation of tensions in the conflict zone that caused the death of more than 20 soldiers on both sides. Aliyev and Sarkisian have not announced any concrete agreement or joint statement afterwards. But they both affirmed their commitment to a peaceful settlement of the conflict. Sarkisian predicted Sunday that the violations of the truce will be less frequent in the coming days. Many in Armenia and Karabakh believe Aliyev decided to defuse the situation due to heavy losses incurred by the Azerbaijani army of July 31 to August 2. Some experts believe that the Armenian position Putin was also an important factor.
The unilateral move by Putin was welcomed by the United States, James Warlick, American co-chair of the Minsk Group of the OSCE, which has called the Sochi summit encouraging. “Presidents can rely on their discussion in Sochi when they meet again in the fall to advance negotiations on a peaceful” settlement, Warlick said the Azerbaijani APA news agency Wednesday.
Warlick announced that he and the other two co-chairs of the Minsk Group representing Russia and France are planning to visit the area again soon.
Friday, August 15, 2014,
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