Today during a joint press conference with his Armenian counterpart Edward Nalbandian the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed sincere condolences to the families of all those who were killed in the April battles in Karabakh. Sergei Lavrov is paying an official visit to Yerevan.
The Russian minister underlined that the latest outbreak of violence showed that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has no military solution. "It can be resolve only only through political and diplomatic means," Lavrov said, adding that the basis for peace in the region should be the observance of the ceasefire agreements of 1994 and 1995, "which are not limited in time and should be fully respected by everybody."
"Russia as a member of the ‘Troika’ OSCE Minsk Group at this stage will do its best to assist the parties in every possible way. We consider it important to pay attention to the practical implementation of the confidence-building measures, providing security and investigating the incidents on the line of contact, which were agreed in 2011 by Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia with Russia," the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
"Further delay in the implementation of these decisions would be wrong,’’ he concluded.
Earlier the Russian Foreign Ministry circulated a statement that the ceasefire agreement in Nagorno-Karabakh reached in 1994 and 1995 had no time limits and are the basis for the truce in the conflict zone.
"Taking into consideration the development of the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh, the Russian side firmly believes that the ceasefire agreement of 1994 and the adopted agreement on strengthening of the ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh in 1995 are the basis for the truce in the conflict zone and have no time limits," stated the Russian Foreign Ministry
The statement stressed that this fundamental principle is in complete agreement with the general approach of "Troika" of the OSCE Minsk Group.
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.
![November 2025 in photos: New Year at GUM, the "City of Living Stories," and autumn scenes](https://en.vestikavkaza.ru/upload2/s400xfull/2025-12-02/1764706769692f49d1538777.83780174.webp "November 2025 in photos: New Year at GUM, the "City of Living Stories," and autumn scenes")
