Russia calls for Armenia-Azerbaijan de-escalation

Russia's Foreign Ministry expressed ‘deep concern’ Wednesday over what it described as military ‘incidents’ on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border on February 12-13, when 4 Armenian soldiers were killed and another wounded when their position in Syunik came under cross-border Azeri gunfire.

Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said at a press briefing that Armenia and Azerbaijan should refrain from any actions that would escalate the situation.

‘We are calling on Baku and Yerevan to display restraint and make steps for de-escalation,’ she said, calling on the sides to resolve disputes peacefully. She added that the countries should adhere to the 2020-2022 Armenia-Russia-Azerbaijan trilateral statements. ‘We are convinced that territorial disputes should be resolved as part of the work of the bilateral commission on delimitation,’ Zakharova added.