MOSCOW. Aug 4 (Interfax) - Russia has urged all sides participating in the escalation of a situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone to renounce the use of force and reach a settlement politically, the Russian Foreign Ministry said last Saturday.
"We see the events of the past few days as a serious breach of ceasefire agreements and of the stated intentions to reach a settlement politically," deputy head of the Ministry's Department of Information and Press Mariya Zakharova said in a statement over the escalation of the situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone.
"We believe that further escalation is unacceptable. We are urging all parties to the standoff to exercise restraint, renounce the use of force and take immediate steps aimed at stabilizing the situation," the ministry said.
"We express our serious concern over the sudden aggravation of the situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone which led to significant human casualties. We offer our deep condolences to the families of those killed," the ministry added.
The past few days saw an increase in skirmishes on the contact line between the Azeri and Armenian troops.