MOSCOW: Russia said Friday it is prepared to mediate peace talks between ex-Soviet rivals Armenia and Azerbaijan after fighting escalated along their shared border.
President Vladimir Putin and members of Russia’s Security Council expressed “extreme concern” over the flare-up in fighting between the South Caucasus countries that erupted last week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Putin alongside senior Russian government officials “emphasised an urgent need for the parties to adhere to a cease-fire, and voiced a readiness to mediate efforts,” Peskov said, quoted by the Interfax news agency.
The two rivals have been locked for decades in a conflict over Azerbaijan’s southwestern separatist region of Nagorny Karabakh, which was seized by ethnic Armenian separatists in a 1990s war that claimed 30,000 lives.
Negotiations mediated by Russia, the United States, and France since 1994 have failed to bring about a lasting resolution to the stalemate.
The most recent flare-up in fighting began on Sunday, with both sides accusing the other of starting the shelling that has continued sporadically for several days and so far claimed a total of 17 lives.
Armenian government spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan said Friday that fighting subsided overnight and that “the situation remains calm, there is no shooting.”
Azerbaijan’s defense ministry said “overall, situation remains tense.”
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Russia ready to mediate talks between Armenia, Azerbaijan
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Russia ready to mediate talks between Armenia, Azerbaijan
- Putin alongside senior Russian government officials emphasised an urgent need for the parties to adhere to a cease-fire
- The two rivals have been locked for decades in a conflict over Azerbaijan’s southwestern separatist region of Nagorny Karabakh
Russia hits Ukraine power grid with ‘massive attack’: operator
KYIV: A “massive attack” by Russian forces on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has caused power outages across the country, the state grid operator said on Saturday.
Russia has pressed on with its invasion of Ukraine in recent days despite the two countries holding US-brokered talks to end the nearly four-year-long war.
Ukrainian officials have accused Moscow of deliberately targeting energy infrastructure, causing outages that have left hundreds of thousands of people without lighting or heating in temperatures well below zero.
“Russia is carrying out another massive attack on the Ukrainian power grid facilities,” grid operator Ukrenergo said on Saturday.
“Due to the damage caused by the enemy, emergency outages have been applied in most regions,” it said in a statement on Telegram.
“Currently, the attack is still ongoing. Restoration work will begin as soon as the security situation allows.”
Ukraine and Russia have held two rounds of US-mediated negotiations in Abu Dhabi since January.
Kyiv and Moscow have agreed to a major prisoner swap but have made no breakthrough on the issue of territory, a key sticking point in negotiations.
Moscow has accused Ukraine of orchestrating the shooting of a top military intelligence general in the Russian capital on Friday, leaving him wounded. Kyiv has not commented.
Russia has pressed on with its invasion of Ukraine in recent days despite the two countries holding US-brokered talks to end the nearly four-year-long war.
Ukrainian officials have accused Moscow of deliberately targeting energy infrastructure, causing outages that have left hundreds of thousands of people without lighting or heating in temperatures well below zero.
“Russia is carrying out another massive attack on the Ukrainian power grid facilities,” grid operator Ukrenergo said on Saturday.
“Due to the damage caused by the enemy, emergency outages have been applied in most regions,” it said in a statement on Telegram.
“Currently, the attack is still ongoing. Restoration work will begin as soon as the security situation allows.”
Ukraine and Russia have held two rounds of US-mediated negotiations in Abu Dhabi since January.
Kyiv and Moscow have agreed to a major prisoner swap but have made no breakthrough on the issue of territory, a key sticking point in negotiations.
Moscow has accused Ukraine of orchestrating the shooting of a top military intelligence general in the Russian capital on Friday, leaving him wounded. Kyiv has not commented.
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