The foreign ministers of Russia, France and the United States strongly condemn the unprecedented and dangerous escalation of violence in Nagorno-Karabakh, according to a trilateral statement posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website on Monday.

The statement says that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, French Minister for European and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian and United States Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo, representing the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries, condemn in the strongest terms the unprecedented and dangerous escalation of violence in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and beyond.

“The Ministers unequivocally stress that recent attacks, allegedly targeting civilian targets, both along the contact line and in the territories of Azerbaijan and Armenia outside the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, as well as the disproportionality of such attacks pose an unacceptable threat to stability in the region.

Referring to the statement of the leaders of the three countries – the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group on 1 October this year, the Ministers once again call on the parties to the conflict to immediately and unconditionally establish a ceasefire.

The Co-Chair countries are firmly determined to fully implement the mandate entrusted to them by the OSCE and the international community, with the support of the Minsk Group member countries. In accordance with this mandate, they will continue to consistently build up interaction with the parties, urging them to commit themselves without delay to resume the settlement process on the basis of existing basic principles and relevant international documents that are well known to both parties.”