Escalation of hostilities in disputed Nagorno-Karabakh

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is ready to hold a special meeting to discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier told RIA Novosti.

The situation in the conflict zone in Nagorno-Karabakh has de-escalated in recent days, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Friday during a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

"Azerbaijan stands for a peaceful settlement of the conflict on the basis of international law, the resolutions of the UN Security Council and other international organizations," the president said.

Aliyev also thanked Russia for its efforts aimed at restoring a ceasefire regime on the contact line in the conflict-torn region.

Azeri forces have shelled three villages in Armenian territory, the Armenian Defense Ministry reported. The villages of Karmir, Ttujur and Baganis were shelled from 120mm mortars but there were no casualties, the report said.

The Azerbaijani military fired at targets in Nagorno-Karabakh 114 times over the past 24 hours, the country’s Defense Ministry reported. It said it was responding to 110 separate instances of fire coming from the other side.

Nagorno-Karabakh authorities said one of their soldiers was killed overnight by Azeri forces.

Russian PM Medvedev discussed the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh during a meeting with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan in Yerevan, the country’s capital. Medvedev assured Sargsyan that Russia will “do everything in our power as an ally and participant in the Minsk Group to channel developments in to quiet alley,” TASS reported.

The Russian PM has also come up with some unspecified proposals to resolve the conflict, which he said could be implemented “in the near future.”“The main thing now is to keep up peace, to return to the table of negotiations” he concluded.

Nagorno-Karabakh’s Defense Ministry says that 36 people have been killed and 122 have been injured in the region since the conflict’s escalation on April, 2.

Authorities of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic insist on their inclusion in the negotiations on the settlement of the conflict in the region, the republic’s President Bako Sahakyan has said at a briefing.
“I am grateful to the global community for the relative peace that lasted until April 2, but I have been expressing my dissatisfaction [to the OSCE] that the format of negotiations is deficient and does not allow to achieve real progress in the settlement process. I have to repeat that any initiative adopted without the participation of the NKR will not bring lasting results,” Sahakyan said, adding that “after the recent events [on the ground] the OSCE Minsk Group is obliged to restore the Republic of Artsakh [the alternate name for the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic] as part of the negotiation process.”

The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group have arrived in Nagorno-Karabakh’s de facto capital Stepanakert for negotiations with the unrecognized republic’s President Bako Sahakyan, according to presidential spokesman David Babayan.

“The co-chairs have arrived and are waiting for a meeting with the president,” Babayan told RIA Novosti. The meeting is to take place later on Thursday.

Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry says that a surveillance drone belonging to the Armenian military has been forcibly landed on the contact line of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone by Azerbaijani defense forces.

Russian Foreign Ministry Sergey Lavrov says all components of the agreement to stabilize the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh are nearly ready, and Moscow is interested in resolving the conflict as soon as possible.

“I agree with the fact that almost all components of the deal are on the table. The question is not how to position, but rather how to formulate them, because in essence, we’re really close [to striking a deal],” Lavrov said.

“We are keen on resolving this conflict as soon as possible… At the same time, it is very important to take measures to prevent such outbursts of violence [in the future],” he added.