Friday, August 21 2020 12:04

ArmInfo. Border conflict on 12-16 July this year became the second most widespread (after April 2016) violation of the 1994 ceasefire agreement prepared with our mediation. This was stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrova  in an interview with the Trud newspaper, answering the question of  how high the likelihood of an escalation on the Armenian- Azerbaijani  border into a large-scale military conflict.

At the same time, the Russian minister noted that for the first time  in the past 26 years, high-intensity clashes using field artillery,  mortars and attack drones took place not on the contact line in  Karabakh, but directly on the section of the state border between  Armenia and Azerbaijan.

"A whole complex of reasons led to the conflict. The basis, of  course, is the unresolved Karabakh problem.  Plus the exceptional  overheating of the public space on both sides of the border. The  geographical factor also served as a trigger: the decision of the  Armenian side to revive the old border checkpoint located 15 km from  the export Azerbaijani pipelines caused heightened concern in some,  an unjustified response from others and, as a result, launched a  flywheel of confrontation with the most unpredictable consequences,  "Lavrov said.

At the same time, the Russian minister said that in order to  stabilize the situation on July 13 this year. The Russian Foreign  Ministry has appealed to the parties to immediately cease fire. He  recalled that he held telephone conversations with colleagues from  Armenia and Azerbaijan, met with representatives of organizations  uniting Russian citizens of Azerbaijani and Armenian nationalities.  According to Lavrov, both diasporas should be fully aware of their  responsibility for the observance of the laws of the Russian  Federation and for helping to create an atmosphere conducive to the  normalization of relations between Baku and Yerevan.

"Russian Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group on Nagorno-Karabakh IV  Popov all this time was in direct contact with the leadership of the  foreign affairs agencies of the two countries. As a result, with  active Russian mediation, a ceasefire was reached, albeit not on the  first attempt, on July 16.

In August of this year. the situation has more or less stabilized.  The border and the line of contact remain relatively calm. Mutual  public accusations subsided. We look forward to the early resumption  of the negotiation process on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement. We are  working on this together with our partners in the OSCE Minsk Group,  "Lavrov summed up.

Let us remind that the clashes on the Armenian-Azerbaijani state  border took place on July 12 and lasted for several days. The Armed  Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan subjected to artillery shelling  not only the positions of the Armed Forces of the Republic of  Armenia, but also the Armenian border villages. As a result of these  actions, a civilian of the village of Chinari was injured, and  civilian infrastructure was also damaged. According to official data,  5 servicemen were killed from the Armenian side, 36 more were wounded  (5 seriously), from the Azerbaijani side - officially about two  dozen. The Armenian Armed Forces reported the destruction of 13  Azerbaijani drones, including one Israeli Elbit Hermes 900. Since  July 17, the situation at the front line has relatively stabilized.

Against the background of the escalation of the situation on the  Armenian-Azerbaijani state border, clashes took place in Moscow  between Armenians and Azerbaijanis. Some of them got off with  administrative articles, some were prosecuted for hooliganism and  robbery. A number of participants were detained in a pre-trial  detention center.