Russia to ‘assist’ Armenia if conflict spreads beyond Nagorno-Karabakh

Russia would be prepared to render “all necessary assistance” to treaty partner Armenia if the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict expanded to Armenian territory, Russia’s Foreign Ministry declared.

Overnight, Armenia and Azerbaijan had again accused each other of shelling residential areas of the separatist Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh — internationally recognized as lying within Azerbaijan.

That followed a fourth ceasefire bid, negotiated Friday in Geneva via the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

At those six-hour talks, involving both countries’ foreign ministers, the countries pledged not to target civilians and to provide lists of soldiers detained for potential exchanges.

Early on Saturday, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had formally asked Russian President Vladimir Putin for “urgent consultations” on security assistance, reiterating that Turkey was backing Azerbaijan.

Russia and Armenia have a 1997 mutual assistance treaty, with Russia maintaining a base in Armenia’s second-largest city of Gyumri.

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