YEREVAN, OCTOBER 7, ARMENPRESS. Russian President Vladimir Putin said the events taking place in Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) are of a tragic nature, expressing his concern over the ongoing developments.

“People living in Azerbaijan, Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh are not strangers to us. It’s enough to state that nearly 2 million Azerbaijanis and, according to our calculations, more than 2 million Armenians live in Russia. Many Russian citizens have close, friendly and even kinship ties in both republics”, the Russian President said in an interview on Russia-1 TV channel.

Putin expressed hope that the conflict will end soon. “Apparently, this is still a long way off, but we and I want to say this again, we urge ceasefire. This must be done as quickly as possible”, he added.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan