'Moscow will help Yerevan if conflict shifts into Armenia proper'

Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow will help Yerevan if the conflict with Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region shifts into Armenia itself.

Moscow: Russia will offer assistance to Armenia if the conflict with Azerbaijan over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region shifts into Armenia itself, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Saturday.

Earlier in the day, the Armenian Prime Minister asked Russia to start discussing possible help in terms of ensuring Armenia's security.

"As per our [1997 mutual defence] treaty, Russia will offer help to Yerevan if clashes shift directly to Armenian territory," the ministry said in a statement.

Read:|Armenia, Azerbaijan accuse each other of truce violations

The ministry also reiterated Russia's call for a stable ceasefire in Karabakh on the terms agreed on by the two sides during a foreign ministers' meeting in Moscow on October 10.

Later in the day, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that all details would be discussed additionally.

"In this case, we are talking about the committed position of the Russian side that has been expressed in connection with Armenia's request. Everything related to specific frameworks will be discussed additionally," Zakharova told Russia's Rossiya 24 channel, answering a question about what possible action could be taken in case of an armed confrontation.

Armenia is currently engaged in an armed struggle with Azerbaijan over the status of the breakaway republic of Nagorno-Karabakh. Moscow has been a consistent proponent of both sides settling their differences at the negotiating table.

Earlier, Azerbaijani troops pushed deeper into Nagorno-Karabakh after both Azerbaijan and Armenia promised to avoid shelling residential areas amid the fighting over the disputed region, a pledge that follows talks in Geneva.

The two sides agreed they “will not deliberately target civilian populations or non-military objects following international humanitarian law.”

But shortly after the mutual pledge was announced by the Minsk Group co-chairs, Nagorno-Karabakh authorities accused Azerbaijani forces of firing rockets at a street market and a residential building in the separatist region's capital, Stepanakert.

Read:|Armenia, Azerbaijan agree to avoid targeting civilian, non-military objects

They said that residential areas in the town of Shushi also came under Azerbaijani shelling.

In Stepanakert, shop owners came to their stalls to collect their merchandise and clear the debris after the shelling.

Azerbaijan's defence ministry denied targeting civilian areas, and in turn accused Armenian forces of shelling several regions of Azerbaijan.

The rapid failure of the latest attempt to contain the fighting follows the collapse of three successive cease-fires.

Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a war there ended in 1994.

The latest outburst of hostilities began September 27 and left hundreds - perhaps thousands - dead, marking the worst escalation of fighting since the war’s end.

(with Agency inputs)