Moscow, Nov 22 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has rejected doubts over a trilateral ceasefire statement centred around the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.
On Saturday, Lavrov said during a briefing that issues related to the implementation of the ceasefire statement were fully discussed at the meeting with the Armenian leadership, including ensuring the operation of the Russian peacekeeping mission and conducting humanitarian actions, reports Xinhua news agency.
"All accepted that this statement is the only means for the settlement of the situation, which was very tough several weeks ago.
"It was stated that all attempts both within the country and abroad at questioning that statement are unacceptable," Lavrov said, adding that Russia and Armenia had confirmed their determination to do everything to keep the statement in force.
The ceasefire statement was signed by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Russian President Vladimir Putin on November 9, in which the three sides agreed on a complete ceasefire in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone starting from November 10.
As agreed, Russia has deployed a peacekeeping contingent consisting of 1,960 servicemen with small arms, 90 armoured personnel carriers, and 380 vehicles to the region.
Russian peacekeepers will set up 16 observation posts to monitor the ceasefire along the contact line in Nagorno-Karabakh and along the corridor connecting the region with Armenia.
This is the fourth ceasefire since last month.
The three other ceasefires two brokered by Russia (October 10, 17) and one by the US (October 26) collapsed after Armenia and Azerbaijan traded accusations and attacks.
A new round of armed conflict broke out on September 27 along the contact line of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, which is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but mostly governed by the Republic of Artsakh, a de facto independent state with an Armenian ethnic majority.
The area experienced flare-ups of violence in the summer of 2014, April 2016 and in July this year.
Armenia and Azerbaijan went to war over the region in 1988-94, eventually declaring a ceasefire.
However, a settlement was never reached.
( With inputs from IANS )
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