The ongoing conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh should be resolved through peaceful negotiations, the spokesman of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Vladimir Zainetdinov told Sputnik on Sunday.
"We believe that this conflict should only be resolved peacefully. For this, there is an existing internationally-recognized mechanism – the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's [OSCE] Minsk Group – which is already engaged in finding a settlement to the conflict," Zainetdinov remarked.
The CSTO spokesman also stated that all parties involved in the conflict should cease firing immediately in order to allow for peaceful negotiations to take place.
Armenia is a member state of the CSTO, although Zainetdinov said that Yerevan has yet to contact the organization for assistance.
"At the moment, there is no information that Armenia has appealed to the [CSTO] Secretariat for assistance," he commented.
At this stage, the CSTO stands ready to support all efforts to find a peaceful solution to the hostilities, Zainetdinov stated, although the spokesman underlined that the Minsk Group has the primary role in bringing the conflicting parties together.
The OSCE Minsk Group, led by Russia, the United States, and France, has spearheaded efforts to find a peaceful effort to the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh since 1992.