“We took all necessary measures on the level of the President, Prime Minister, MFA, Defense Ministry, and General Staff so that the sides manage to reach an agreement over the ceasefire. We are ready to support that these agreements are not breached, normalization of the situation is of key importance for now”, the Russian Foreign Minister said.
“We hope that this will reduce tensions along the frontline. While the sides do not respect and do not observe the ceasefire, there can be no talks about political progress. The US has always supported the OSCE Minsk Group and wishes the negotiations to be successful for establishing peace. High ranking U.S. officials have also joint that process, urging to cease the fire. The tension showed that it is high time for continuation of talks to reach a lasting peace. The political will of both sides is necessary for that”, Warlick said.
On our way to Karabakh, we learned that an Azerbaijani military helicopter had been shot down on April 2nd. It is easier for print journalists – dry official information is enough to complete a newspaper page. For a photographer it is more complicated. One cannot take pictures from the comfort of a hotel. A photographer should be on the scene.
“Azerbaijan bluntly rejects all confidence building measures and is pursuing other goals. These goals were unambiguously revealed on the night of April 1-2. Ignoring more than twenty-year long efforts of the international community aimed at the establishment of peace, Azerbaijan launched large-scale military operations along the entire Karabakh-Azerbaijan line of contact,” Sargsyan said.
“I am deeply disturbed by and condemn this terrible new escalation in Azerbaijan’s aggression against Nagorno Karabakh in the form of a significant military assault,” said Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) in a statement on Saturday. “Until Azerbaijan faces strong and meaningful consequences over their policy of escalation and violence … there is little chance of resolving the conflict and avoiding further bloodshed.”
Press Conference of RA president Serzh Sargsyan and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
“The most interesting is that all presidents of the South Caucasus, except Turkey, speak of the necessity of conflict settlement through diplomacy and policy, and only Turkey claims on supporting Azerbaijan in liberation of Azerbaijani lands,” Tsyganok said.
“And although they initially thought they’d fight against the background of domestic policy issues, and by that everything will end, and some weakening will be observed, this didn’t happen. Currently something inexplicable is going on, especially when there are actors who’d like to make use of the situation and reach considerable success. So that threat to further tension is becoming more realistic,” Felgenhauer anticipated.
After ceasing fire at 12:00, April 5, the adversary continued to violate the ceasefire in the directions of Martuni, Martakert and Talish. From 12:10 to 16:48 Azerbaijanis fired from large caliber mortars, grenade launchers and tanks in the mentioned directions.
President Putin expressed his deep concern over the military operations that claimed numerous lives. It was mentioned that Russia took and will continue to take necessary mediation steps aimed at the stabilization of the situation.
