“Baku and Yerevan have confirmed their participation in the consultations in Moscow. Active preparations are underway,” Maria Zakharova told reporters on Friday, RT reported.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had earlier invited the foreign ministers of bitter rivals Armenia and Azerbaijan for talks in Moscow on October 9. He called for a ceasefire and a prisoner swap.
The heavy fighting in disputed Nagorno-Karabakh – an Armenian-populated enclave internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan – resumed on September 27. The hostilities involved shelling of the region’s capital by Azerbaijani forces, as well as the shelling of Azerbaijani towns outside Nagorno-Karabakh by Armenia. There have been multiple military and civilian casualties.
Russia, France, and the US, who are co-chairs of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) mediation group on Nagorno-Karabakh, have urged both sides to end hostilities and start negotiations.