Thursday, July 22 2021 18:30

ArmInfo.The settlement of border incidents should be carried out exclusively by political and diplomatic measures.

This was stated on July 22 during a weekly  briefing by the official representative of the Russian Foreign  Ministry Maria Zakharova, referring to the situation on the  Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the militaristic rhetoric of the  Azerbaijani leadership.  She recalled that Russia, which has close  friendly relations with both Armenia and Azerbaijan, pays special  attention to the situation on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border, and of  course, to the situation in Nagorno- Karabakh, where the Russian  peacekeeping contingent is stationed. The representative of the  Russian Foreign Ministry also added that the Russian side continues  to make a significant contribution to maintaining stability,  establishing a peaceful life in Nagorno-Karabakh, resolving pressing  humanitarian issues, including the return of prisoners of war,  refugees, the return and exchange of bodies of the dead.

"We are helping to build confidence-building measures between Baku  and Yerevan. We continue to work to ensure access to the region of  the UNESCO mission, UNHCR. Of course, we perceive with concern any  manifestations of escalation of tension on certain sections of the  Azerbaijani-Armenian border. And of course, this extremely negatively  affects the regional situation and does not contribute to the  normalization of the dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan, leading  to unjustified losses among the population of the two countries,  "Zakharova said, in this context expressing condolences to the  relatives of the deceased Armenian soldier, and wishing a speedy  recovery to all victims of border incidents.

At the same time, she pointed out the extreme importance of  refraining from confrontational rhetoric, from forceful methods. "A  systematic, painstaking work is required in order to find  compromises. This is exactly what we are setting up both sides for.  We are convinced that a sustainable de-escalation can only be ensured  by an urgent start of work on the delimitation of the border between  Armenia and Azerbaijan, with its subsequent demarcation," the Russian  diplomat said, expressing Moscow's readiness to share available  cartographic information.

In this vein, she said that the Russian side had prepared a number of  documents that could translate the discussions into a constructive  channel. Zakharova added that currently consultations on this issue  are taking place through the Foreign Ministry, defense departments,  as well as the border services of the three countries.

The Russian diplomat also pointed out that the issue of regional  stability was the focus of the meeting of Russian President Vladimir  Putin with the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan Nikol Pashinyan and  Ilham Aliyev this month. According to her, at this meeting, the  leaders of the two countries, despite the complexity and scale of the  tasks in the region, confirmed their determination to continue joint  activities in order to find optimal solutions.

"They expressed their firm resolve to consistently and  comprehensively implement the agreements of November 9, 2020, which  stopped the bloodshed of January 11, this year, which opened up  prospects for unblocking communications in the South Caucasus region.

We state with satisfaction that the established trilateral working  group co-chaired by the Deputy Prime Ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan  and Russia held several rounds of substantive discussions and  synchronization of watches on the ground, outlined a set of necessary  measures to restore transport and economic ties. We hope that in the  near future it will be able to restore its meetings, "the diplomat  said, expressing her conviction that this, in turn, will allow the  transition to the implementation of joint phased infrastructure  projects. In her words, this fully meets the interests of both  Armenia and Azerbaijan, and the whole South Caucasus as a whole.