YEREVAN, July 3. /ARKA/. Armenia is not ready to make unilateral concessions in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Anna Naghdalyan said at a press briefing today, adding that unilateral concessions on part of the Armenian side are ruled out

She said steps should be made to create an atmosphere conducive to the formation of peace, including reduction of risks, investigation of incidents along the line of contact and increase of mutual trust.

According to her, creation of an atmosphere conducive to the formation of peace is a priority for Armenia, since it is impossible to achieve efficiency in the negotiation process if there is tension on the line of contact. She reiterated that Armenia is not ready to make unilateral concessions in the name of peace, which may threaten Nagorno-Karabakh’s right to self-determination and security. 

She also added hat so far no new meetings are planned with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs on the Karabakh settlement.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict erupted into armed clashes after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s as the predominantly Armenian-populated enclave of Azerbaijan sought to secede from Azerbaijan and declared its independence backed by a successful referendum.  On May 12, 1994, the Bishkek cease-fire agreement put an end to the military operations. 

A truce was brokered by Russia in 1994, although no permanent peace agreement has been signed. Since then, Nagorno-Karabakh and several adjacent regions have been under the control of Armenian forces of Karabakh. Nagorno-Karabakh is the longest-running post-Soviet era conflict and has continued to simmer despite the relative peace of the past two decades, with snipers causing tens of deaths a year. 

On April 2, 2016, Azerbaijan launched military assaults along the entire perimeter of its contact line with Nagorno-Karabakh. Four days later a cease-fire was reached. -0—