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Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Armenia and Azerbaijan have confirmed their participation in the consultations in Moscow.
“Active preparations are underway,” he said, and the talks are expected to take place on Friday (10/9/2020) evening and involve the foreign ministers of the two countries. The National.
Putin’s invitation to Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and his Armenian counterpart, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, came after more than a week of intense fighting between the two countries in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, where most of the the ethnic Armenian population separates, supported by the Armenians.(Also read: Putin calls for an end to the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh)
Armenia has ruled out any dialogue between the top diplomats of the two countries while the clashes continue. Armenia did not even participate in a closed-door meeting in Geneva last Thursday between the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and diplomats from France, Russia and the United States (USA), who formed the “Minsk Group” seeking a solution to the Karabakh conflict since the 1990s.
Nagorno-Karabakh is a territory of Azerbaijan controlled by Armenians who declared a separatist state after the fall of the Soviet Union and were victorious in the war that followed.
The current fighting is the worst since a ceasefire in 1994, which claimed hundreds of lives, including civilians, as the two sides decided who should control the territory.
Massive shelling has razed many homes since fighting broke out late last month and the area’s main city, Stepanakert, is colored by unexploded ordnance and a wide crater of gunfire.
International leaders have repeatedly called for an immediate end to the fighting, but there is still no indication that the conflict is abating.
Turkey has expressed strong support for Azerbaijan, raising fears in the West that the conflict could escalate into a full-blown war involving Ankara with Moscow, which has a military agreement with Armenia.
Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron are among the world leaders who condemned the alleged deployment of pro-Turkey fighters from Syria and Libya to Karabakh. Iran warned on Wednesday about “terrorists” who have joined the conflict from abroad.(Also read: France has evidence of Syrian militias fighting in Nagorno Karabakh)
Azerbaijan announced Thursday that it was withdrawing its ambassador in Athens following reports that Greeks had joined Armenian forces in Karabakh.
(ber)
