Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help preserve peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The UK Government continues to work with the Armenian and Azerbaijani Governments to encourage them to engage with the OSCE Minsk Group and the EU-led negotiations process to secure a sustainable and peaceful settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Against the background of renewed hostilities and loss of life, senior diplomats have stressed to the Armenian and Azerbaijani Ambassadors to London in recent weeks the importance of regional stability and negotiations without pre-conditions. I also reaffirmed these messages to the Armenian Foreign Minister and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister on 15 and 17 September respectively. Our Ambassadors in Yerevan and Baku have taken similar steps, in close coordination with partners.