Maria Zakharova: Russia wants peaceful settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

There is no other way of settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, apart from peacefully, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, answering a question from Trend's Orhan Elchuev about the possibility of the sides returning to the negotiating table after a major escalation of violence since the ceasefire agreement in 1994.

"If we left some doubt that we can succeed, it would be a very dangerous logic, which might inspire those who are really against a peace settlement. We want it and we know that both sides want it too. For many years we have been trying carefully, step by step, to achieve a full settlement of the situation, we were sometimes just a step away from reaching an agreement. Then, unfortunately, the process stalled again. We proceed from the fact that it should be achieved, we just have no other option, and now it's very dangerous to express an opinion, which would allow anyone to question this perspective," the correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza cited her as saying.

She also spoke about Russia's role in the current mediation work. "I have already talked a lot about our role these days. Both about our role as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group and regarding the relations we have built both with Armenia and Azerbaijan. It’s a constructive role and all our thoughts, designs, aspirations, ideas and plans are all about the situation’s peaceful settlement and about the prevention of any provocations. In addition, Russia's role as a major international player in our bilateral contacts with the countries involved some way or other in this situation or which can influence the related parties, is also important," Maria Zakharova stressed.

Recall, on the night of April 2 all frontier positions of Azerbaijan were exposed to heavy fire from large-caliber weapons, mortars, grenade launchers and guns. In addition, Azerbaijani settlements near the front line, densely populated by civilians, were shelled.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20% of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US, are currently holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.