YEREVAN, OCTOBER 19, ARMENPRESS. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has expressed hope that verification mechanisms for the ceasefire in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone will be agreed upon in the next few days.

“The introduction of mechanisms for ceasefire supervision is necessary in order for the ceasefire to work. We are convinced in this after adopting two documents which didn’t enable to change the situation on the ground. We are actively working in this direction, first of all our defense ministry with the Armenian and Azerbaijani partners. I hope that such a mechanism will be agreed upon in the nearest time,” Lavrov said at a press conference with Marija Pejčinović Burić, Secretary General of the Council of Europe.

According to Lavrov the most important thing in the NK conflict zone is to immediately stop the confrontational rhetoric, both between the sides and the level of international actors.

“This doesn’t require big efforts,” he said, adding that the next step should be the cessation of military actions and targeting of civilian facilities. “These are the demands that are included in the statement of the presidents of Russia, USA and France, as Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, and the Moscow document that was agreed on October 10 between the Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers. This is also stipulated in the document that we agreed upon on October 18 by seeking to stop bloodshed. However, after the Moscow meeting our hopes didn’t come true, the military actions continued, strikes at civilian infrastructure, settlements continued, and this is unacceptable,” Lavrov said.

Lavrov said the efforts for a political settlement of the conflict must be significantly accelerated. He said this is included in the Moscow statement and there are detailed developments by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs which have been discussed with the sides.

“At today’s historic moment we must be able to push the sides to agree the key provisions that will allow to stabilize the situation in the region in long-term, to unblock the economic and transportation communication and ensure the reliable security of Karabakh and other territories of the region,” he said.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan