Georgia offers to become a mediator in the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh
Following the Leader of the Parliamentary Majority, Giorgi Volski, who proposed to hold the Azerbaijani-Armenian talks in Tbilisi, Georgia's Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces, Vakhtang Kapanadze, has offered for Georgia to play "a role of mediator" in the conflict.
According to Kapanadze, Georgia is one of the countries that has good relations with both sides of the conflict.
"It is unfortunate that a peaceful solution of this problem has failed for several reasons. It is a painful process for the entire region. We are very closely monitoring the situation. We have a close relationship with both our colleagues in Azerbaijan and Armenia, so we have complete information," Kapanadze said, expressing hope that the parties will be able to resolve the conflict peacefully and stop the fire.
According to a correspondent of Radio Liberty, Georgian Defense Minister Tinatin Khidasheli said that during her recent contacts with the Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts, "no requests and suggestions from them for Georgia’s help have been made."
"We are trying to be in constant contact and stay informed. Yesterday, the Georgian Prime Minister outlined the position of the Georgian state, which, of course, corresponds to the position of our partners. The main task today is to cease-fire. When there are shootings, when the tension reaches a level that we see in Nagorno-Karabakh, the main task is establishing a cease-fire. After that, the negotiations could continue to take care of the rest," the Head of the Georgian Defense Ministry said.
According to the UN, as of April 3, due to the conflict intensifying, 33 people were killed in Nagorno-Karabakh and more than 200 were injured.
The situation in the zone of Karabakh conflict sharply escalated on the night of April 2. On April 3, Azerbaijan unilaterally announced the termination of the military actions in Nagorno-Karabakh. In turn, Armenia Baku declared that this statement was an "information trap". The parties are accusing each other of violating the ceasefire and continued shelling. Information coming from the zone of the Karabakh conflict is contradictory.
On April 4, the Armenian Defense Ministry reported that the Azerbaijani Army continues shelling of Armenian positions from tanks, howitzers and multiple launch rocket systems Grad. According to the Armenian side, three Azerbaijani tanks were destroyed, the News-Armenia agency reported. Baku denied this information and accused Yerevan in aggravating the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. According to the Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan, the Armenian side suffered heavy losses in manpower and military equipment on April 3.