Moscow urges in contacts with both sides to solve the problem with gas supplies to Artsakh as soon as possible, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
"The relevant work is being carried out through the Foreign Ministry, the Defense Ministry, the Russian Energy Ministry and Gazprom. We proceed from the fact that we cannot worsen the already difficult humanitarian situation and ordinary people must not suffer," she said.
Commenting on the violation of the line of contact in the direction of village Parukh of Askeran by the Azerbaijani forces, Zakharova reiterated that neither side should worsen the situation.
Speaking of the implementation of trilateral statements, Zakharova noted that "the focus is on several priority directions - within the trilateral working group, co-chaired by the vice-premiers of the three countries, there is an agreement, perhaps not as quickly as we would like, on packages of development of transport routes with an emphasis on rail and road links." "Interdepartmental contacts continue in terms of launching the process of delimitation and subsequent demarcation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border with the consultative assistance of Russia," she said.
Artsakh Information Center reported that Azerbaijani forces violated the line of contact.
"As of 4:00 pm on March 24, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces violated the line of contact in the direction of the village of Parukh in the Askeran province. Representatives of the Defense Army and the Russian peacekeeping contingent stationed in the Republic of Artsakh are trying to stop the further advance of the enemy through negotiations and return them to their initial positions. For security reasons women and children of the Khramort community of Askeran are evacuated at the moment," the report says.
Problems with gas supply to Artsakh began on March 8. There was a breakdown at the Azerbaijani-controlled section of the gas pipeline from Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh. The extent of the Azerbaijani involvement in the breakdown has not yet been clarified.
Under various pretexts, the Azerbaijani side did not allow Armenian specialists to fix the pipeline. Azerbaijan undertook to repair the pipeline after long negotiations. Finally, the gas supply was resumed on March 19, but it did not last long: in the evening of March 21, the gas supply was stopped through the direct intervention of Azerbaijan.
