Yerevan /Mediamax/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that the number of militants from Middle East participating in the Karabakh conflict is nearing 2000.

Lavrov said this in an interview to Kommersant.

Below are some extracts from the interview.

Russia’s efforts

“Russian President Vladimir Putin makes mediation efforts aimed at the settlement of the situation almost on daily basis. Upon his initiative, an agreement on a humanitarian ceasefire was reached in early October. We are doing everything possible, also together with the United States and France - partners in the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship, so that this agreement works in full force. In parallel, we offer possible options for political settlement. We hope that a constructive approach will finally prevail in Baku and Yerevan, hostilities will stop and the Karabakh process will return to a political channel.”

Involvement of militants from Middle East

“Of course, we are concerned over the internationalization of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and involvement of militants from the Middle East. We have repeatedly urged the external players to use their possibilities to prevent the transfer of militants, whose number in the conflict zone, according to our data, is already nearing 2000.

In particular, Vladimir Putin discussed this issue in a telephone conversation with President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan on October 27, and in personal contacts with the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia. We persistently continue to promote our position through various channels.”

Ceasefire control measures

“We believe that it is hard to reach a stable ceasefire without agreements on effective control measures.

The Moscow statement of October 10 says that detailed parameters of the ceasefire regime will be agreed upon additionally. It is not an easy work. There are various approaches to solving this issue. There are options for using various electronic means of control, a hotline between Yerevan and Baku, observers under the auspices of the OSCE, conducting operations with the participation of military contingents. It has not been possible to agree on all parameters so far. The work in this direction continues, also within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship. The important thing is that any mechanism should be acceptable for the parties, and we should assume the possibility of immediate implementation.”