New York-Sana
The UN Security Council demanded, unanimously by its members, for an immediate end to the ongoing battles in the disputed Nagorno Karabakh region between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The French Press Agency quoted the members of the Council as saying in a statement that they express "their support for the United Nations Secretary-General's call on the two sides to immediately stop fighting, de-escalate tensions and return without delay to constructive negotiations."
The statement added that the members of the Council "strongly condemn the use of force and deplore the loss of life and casualties among civilians ... and express their concern over the reports of large-scale military actions along the line of contact in the region."
The statement indicated that the members of the Security Council "expressed their full support for the central role of the co-chairs of the Minsk Group, which includes the United States, Russia and France, and urged the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides to work closely with them in order to resume the dialogue urgently and without preconditions."
The presidential statement of the Security Council was issued at the conclusion of an emergency meeting held by the Council at the request of its European member states, namely Belgium, Estonia, Germany, France and Britain.
According to diplomats, the statement approved by the council after a meeting that lasted about an hour was proposed by the three co-chairs of the Minsk Group, which facilitated its adoption.
The situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh region witnessed a sudden military escalation last Sunday, while the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides exchanged accusations about the reasons for the escalation. These developments came two months after a similar escalation in the border region between Armenia and Azerbaijan in mid-July, where the two sides exchanged accusations of causing it.