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04Apr16


Duma speaker: Nagorno-Karabakh settlement possible through dialogue and compromise


The way to the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement is through dialogue and compromise, speaker of the Russian State Duma lower house of parliament Sergey Naryshkin told reporters on Monday.

"The way to the restoration of peace is always through dialogue, through compromise, and both sides should constantly seek this peace and compromise," the official said, answering a corresponding question.

Naryshkin also said that Russia "throughout this very complicated and grave conflict has carried out and continues to carry out the intensive work - in the Minsk group as well, making efforts to try to settle this conflict." "I must say that Russia, maybe even more than any other countries, is interested in restoring peace in the South Caucasus," the Duma speaker added.

He said in this connection that the leadership of the Russian Defense Ministry and Foreign Ministry has held talks with their colleagues in Azerbaijan and Armenia, and the Russian president has made a corresponding statement.

The situation along the line of engagement of the conflicting parties in Nagorno-Karabakh deteriorated dramatically overnight to April 2. Following fierce armed clashes at the contact line, the parties to the conflict accused each other of violating truce.

The conflict between neighboring Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory that had been part of Azerbaijan before the Soviet Union break-up but was mainly populated by Armenians, broke out in the late 1980s.

In 1991-1994, the confrontation spilled over into large-scale military action for control over the enclave and some adjacent territories. Thousands left their homes on both sides in a conflict that killed 30,000. About a mission people became refugees. A truce was called between Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh republic on one side and Azerbaijan on the other in May 1994.

Talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement have been held on the basis of the so-called Madrid Principles suggested by co-chairs of the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Russia, France and the United States in December 2007 in the Spanish capital. They include three key principles written in the Helsinki Final Act: refraining from the threat or use of force, territorial integrity and the right to self-determination.

On Sunday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that "at least 30 soldiers and 3 civilians have died as a result of the fighting (in Nagorno-Karabakh). The number of injured persons, both civilian and military, is yet to be confirmed by official sources. Unofficial sources estimated this number to be more than 200.".

[Source: Itar Tass, Moscow, 04Apr16]

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