US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has commented on French President Emmanuel Macron's remarks about the taking of Islamist militants from the Syrian province of Aleppo to the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict zone via Turkey—and who are linked to the Islamic State terrorist organization, which is banned in Russia, TASS reported.

You are referring to the reporting that said that he brought Syrian fighters to Azerbaijan. I have seen that reporting, too. That is all I can really say at this point.  I hope it is not the case. We saw Syrian fighters taken from the battlefields in Syria to Libya. That created more instability, more turbulence, more conflict, more fighting, less peace. I think it would do the same thing in the conflict in and around Nagorno-Karabakh as well, so I hope that reporting proves inaccurate, Pompeo said.

You will have to ask [Turkish] President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan why he would make that decision, but our view has been pretty consistent.  When there are political and ethnic tensions and a longstanding conflict in this border space, and when third parties are bringing ammunitions, weapon systems, even just advisors and allies, you increase the complexity and the risk of loss of lives and you decrease the capacity for peace. So we urged everyone simply not to take part in it, except for the call for a ceasefire and dialogue as a way to restore order and peace. Of course, we passed it on to the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as to the Turks, the US Secretary of State added.