Azernews.Az

By Jamila Babayeva

Russia is concerned about the deteriorating situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and has called Armenia and Azerbaijan to take additional measures to stabilize the situation.

"We call the parties of the conflict to take additional measures to stabilize the situation, including the initiation of mechanisms under the Agreement on strengthening the ceasefire on February 4, 1995," the Russian Foreign Ministry's Information and Press Department said in a statement.

"As a result of the recent violations of the ceasefire on the contact line and the border there are casualties among military personnel. Reports say about wounded civilians," the statement added.

Russia supposes that in case of further escalation of the intensity negative consequences are inventible for the resolving process of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. "The implementation of the agreements reached at the Azerbaijani-Armenian summit in Vienna on November 19, 2013 can seriously complicate".

Armenia occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, after laying territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor that caused a brutal war in the early 1990s.

The UN Security Council's four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal have not been enforced to this day.

Peace talks, mediated by Russia, France and the US and the OSCE Minsk Group are underway on the basis of a peaceful outline -called Madrid Principle -proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs. The negotiations have been largely fruitless so far.

Armenia constantly violates the ceasefire on the contact line of Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, and these violations have intensified recently, reaching more than 200 times a day.

The Armenian troops shot dead Captain Elnur Jafarov, an Azerbaijani officer, and Lieutenant Sabuhi Azizov, an officer of the Azerbaijani armed forces, amid the growing tension along the contact line between the Armenian and Azerbaijan troops.