Moscow says peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan is top priority

YEREVAN, September 15. /ARKA/. Peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan is the top priority, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said today.

"Despite the current escalation and tension (on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border), the preparation of a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan has not stopped and it is probably the main priority," Zakharova said at a press briefing on Thursday. She said the Russian side is providing the necessary assistance.

"Igor Khovayev, the special representative of Russian Foreign Minister on the normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations has visited Baku and Yerevan. The main topic of the talks was discussion of the draft peace treaty. We are trying to bring positions of the sides closer, and I assure you that these efforts will be continued," Zakharova said.

She said that the basis for ending the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict are the trilateral agreements of the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia of November 9, 2020, January 11 and November 26, 2021.

According to Zakharova, the Russian side expects the cease-fire agreement to be respected.

"After the first cease-fire agreement, there were shootings again, unfortunately. Yesterday a new agreement was reached, we expect that it will be respected. Once again, we call on the sides to show restraint and resolve all arising issues in a political and diplomatic way, including within the framework of the trilateral commission on the delimitation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border with Russia's advisory assistance," Zakharova said.

She said that Russia is doing everything possible to reduce tension and mitigate aggravation of the situation in the region.

"We expect that the situation will also be the focus of attention during the meeting of the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Uzbekistan's Samarkand," she said.

"Our military is in close contact with both sides to achieve a sustainable ceasefire and the return of Azerbaijani and Armenian troops to their initial positions," Zakharova said.-0-