MOSCOW, June 15. /TASS/. Moscow is concerned over media reports that the US is trying to impose its services as a mediator in the dialogue between Baku and Stepanakert, the Russian Foreign Ministry told TASS on Thursday.

Earlier, the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily, citing sources, said that the US "as an ultimatum <…> is strong-arming representatives from Nagorno-Karabakh to consent to a meeting with the Azerbaijani side in a ‘third country’ under the supervision of American handlers in the near future."

"We are concerned by information in the media that the US is now trying to impose its services as a mediator in the Baku-Stepanakert dialogue as well, including by threatening the use of force," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, speaking at the Council of Europe summit in Reykjavik on May 17, said that Armenia would recognize Azerbaijan’s sovereignty within its borders on the 86,600 square km territory which includes Nagorno-Karabakh, adding that the settlement should proceed via dialogue.

The conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory that had been part of Azerbaijan before the breakup of the Soviet Union, but primarily populated by ethnic Armenians, broke out in February 1988 after the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region announced its withdrawal from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1992-1994, tensions boiled over and exploded into large-scale military action for control over the enclave and seven adjacent territories after Azerbaijan lost control of them. Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, 2020, with intense battles raging in the disputed region. On November 9, 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh and later approved a number of joint statements on the situation in the region. Last year, Azerbaijan and Armenia launched discussions on a peace treaty.