国际英语新闻:Russia, France, U.S. call for ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh region

MOSCOW, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday called for a ceasefire in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, Russian Foreign Ministry said.

In a joint statement published by the ministry, Lavrov, Le Drian and Pompeo, representing the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group Co-Chair countries, condemned in the strongest terms the uNPRecedented and dangerous escalation of violence in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone and beyond.

They stressed that recent attacks, allegedly targeting civilian targets, both along the contact line and in the territories of Azerbaijan and Armenia outside the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, pose an unacceptable threat to stability in the region, according to the statement.

"Referring to the statement made by presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries on Oct. 1, the three leading diplomats once again call on the parties in the conflict to immediately and unconditionally come to a ceasefire," it said.

Battles are still going on along the contact line of the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been at loggerheads over the mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh since 1988. Peace talks have been held since 1994 when a ceasefire was reached, but there have been occasional minor clashes.