We are concerned with the situation in the region and in some parts of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing.

"We have been noticing regular ceasefire violations since the beginning of March. Russian peacekeepers in its area of responsibility are taking appropriate measures to ensure stability and control the situation, and thanks to these efforts no armed incidents have been registered since 13 March. As far as the border is concerned, we advocate the speedy launch of the delimitation process, with the establishment of a relevant bilateral commission. We are aware of the grave humanitarian situation in connection with the accident at the gas pipeline, and we are in contact with both sides, Armenia and Azerbaijan, in order to resolve the problem. We should exclude steps which would create problems for residents and civilians and aggravate the already difficult humanitarian situation," she said.

The Azerbaijani armed forces have been periodically violating the ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh over the past few days, using not only small arms, but also mortars towards the villages of Khnushinak and Khramort in the Martuni and Askeran regions.

The gas pipeline supplying Karabakh, which is under Azerbaijani control, was damaged since 8 March. Since then negotiations are held with Azerbaijanis, but they prevent the beginning of repair works. Despite numerous appeals about the urgency of solving the problem and assurances of the Karabakh authorities that it is being solved together with Russian peacekeepers, the people of Karabakh have been deprived of gas for over a week.