Vasily Nebenzya
Vasily Nebenzya, Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN, spoke about the country's special relations with Armenia and Azerbaijan. TASS reports.
According to the Russian diplomat, the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh raises serious concerns in Russia. Nebenzya explained that Russia is concerned not because events are taking place in the immediate vicinity of its state borders, but because Armenia and Azerbaijan are not foreign countries for it. He noted that Russia has special relations with these states.
Earlier, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova, speaking at a briefing, condemned foreign support for the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. The diplomat emphasized that such an approach could provoke the destabilization of the entire Transcaucasus and have the most unpredictable consequences.
On September 27, fighting began in the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR, Republic of Artsakh), over which Baku and Yerevan have been waging a territorial dispute for 30 years. Azerbaijan stated that Armenian forces fired at its positions and settlements, and announced the beginning of a counteroffensive. Armenia accused the Azerbaijani army of attacking Karabakh.
On October 1, the Presidents of Russia, France and the United States issued a joint statement on the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and called on the parties to the conflict to immediately end hostilities.
