19:56,
YEREVAN, 29 MARCH, ARMENPRESS. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and the Command of the Russian Peacekeeping Forces are making active efforts to defuse tensions in Nagorno-Karabakh, ARMENPRESS reports the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Maria Zakharova said at a weekly briefing, emphasizing that the Russian peacekeepers are acting strictly following the provisions of the November 9 trilateral declaration.
Asked by a reporter of The Moscow Post what is really happening on the line of contact of Russian peacekeepers, and if that can be a provocation by the Azerbaijani side, maybe even Turkey, given that Rusia is currently focused on Ukraine, Zakharova answered, “The position of our country in connection with the recent incidents in the area of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping troops is expressed in the March 26 statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry. If you look at that announcement, you will see that we have called on the parties to urgently ensure the smooth implementation of the agreements reached at the highest level on November 9, 220 on the complete cessation of all hostilities in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone.”
According to Zakharova, the Russian Foreign Ministry is in constant contact with the representatives of Yerevan and Baku.
For weeks, Azerbaijan has been consistently aggravating the military, humanitarian and moral situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, trying to intimidate the Armenians of Artsakh by various means. The Artsakh authorities, human rights activists, describe it as a state policy of intimidation against the people of Artsakh.
During the last month, the local population was twice deprived of heating, in particular, gas supply. During that time, the Azerbaijani armed forces fired several times at a number of Armenian settlements and roads. The tension increased sharply when on March 24 the Azerbaijani troops, grossly violating the 2020 agreement, invaded the area of responsibility of the peacekeeping troops of the Russian Federation in the Artsakh Republic, taking control of the village of Parukh in the Askeran region and adjacent positions, then trying to secure advancment on the eastern border of the Artsakh Republic. On March 27, the Russian peacekeeping force announced that as a result of the talks, the Azerbaijani side has withdrawn its units from Parukh.
