Russian Foreign Ministery spokesperson comments on recent incidents on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border

During a press conference today, the Maria Zakharova (video, text), the spokesperson for Russia’s Foreign Ministry answered a question from a representative of Azeri daily Moskva-Baku.ru on the recent developments on the Armenian-Azeri border. The extract of the conference was the following:

Question: In the Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone tension still continues, violations of the ceasefire regime are still reported. These past few months there have been injured and killed from both sides.; yesterday an Azeri border guard was injured. Do the OSCE Minsk Group co-Chairs plan to take any measures with this respect?

Answer: We are indeed concerned about the escalation of the situation on the Armenian-Azeri border, with resulted in the death of an Armenian serviceman, and wounded from both sides. We express our condolences to the family and relatives of the killed [serviceman] and hope a speedy recovery to all the injured.

The increase in tension goes recent agreements on observing the ceasefire regime and statements aimed at a resolution through peaceful means.

We find it an prolongation to this escalation unacceptable. We call on all participants of the contingency to exercise restraint, desist from using force and take measures intended to stabilise the situation.

In connection with the co-Chairs, I believe it is better to pose [your question] to them directly. In the case that we have any additional information, we will [surely] announce it.

Extract of the press conference  given by Russia’s Foreign Ministry (in Russian)

Apparently the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, of which Armenia is a member, has not mentioned the incidents on their official page.

The organisation has in the past provided statements during periods of escalation between Armenia and Azerbaijan, based on mutual agreements, nonetheless, on this occasion the CSTO has yet to make an official statement.

Relations between the CSTO and Armenia soured when Armenia’s newly-elected government recalled its representative 18 months before the mandate period was due to end, essentially annulling Armenia’s participation in the organisation.