A tripartite meeting of religious leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and  Russia is held in Moscow

ArmInfo.A trilateral meeting of religious leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia is  held in Moscow.

Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II, chairman of the Caucasian  Muslims Office Sheikh-ul-Islam gadji Allahshukur Pashazade, Patriarch  of Moscow and All Russia Kirill, participate in the meeting in the  Danilov Monastery. The meeting is dedicated to the Nagorno-Karabakh  settlement.

In the course of his speech, the Catholicos of All Armenians, in  particular, stated: "We welcome you at this regular meeting of the  spiritual leaders of the region, which became possible due to the  consistent mediation efforts of our spiritual brother in Christ, His  Holiness Patriarch Kirill. Six years have passed since our last  meeting in this format, which took place in 2011 in Yerevan in the  framework of the meeting of the Presidium of the Interreligious  Council of the CIS. With hope for the establishment of the desired  peace in the life of our peoples, we are going to these meetings in  order to discuss the ways in which we spiritual leaders can  contribute to the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict.  Today, unfortunately, the results of the efforts made are not  tangible, but much more significant and objective expectations of our  peoples in this search for peaceful coexistence. In this regard, we  expect positive results from the meetings of the presidents and  foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, organized from time to  time, and from the entire negotiation process. Contrary to the  statements voiced at the end of the meetings of the Presidents of  Armenia and Azerbaijan, our appeals, today, in the conditions of the  cease-fire regime, the situation on the contact line continues to be  tense, servicemen and sometimes civilians of border settlements  continue to die. In particular, we consider it an extremely  disturbing phenomenon when servicemen hide behind their civilians,  thereby deliberately turning it into a target for the opposite party.  On the other side of the border, bellicose appeals, statements about  their increasing armament do not cease to sound. All this to a great  extent threatens the efforts to create an atmosphere of mutual trust  and mutual understanding. Undermining the already fragile ceasefire,  they lead to a new, real escalation of the conflict, witnesses of  which we became in April last year, when the armed forces of  Azerbaijan launched large-scale military operations.  We all know the  alarming chronicle of those days, recorded, in particular, by the  world community - torture, cruelty and violence towards the soldiers  who fell on the battlefield, as well as to the civilian population,  caused by destruction and loss. Recalling these events, a natural  question arises: how can the stability of the situation and the world  remain, when efforts in this respect are one-sided? How to achieve  peace, when Azerbaijan spares no effort and means to sow hatred and  enmity towards its neighbor - to the Armenian people in all possible  and impossible ways in its own people, and to justify unjustified  accusations against fair and objective assessments of the Armenian  side and the international community.  The peace in our region, as  well as the settlement of the Karabakh conflict exclusively through  negotiations, have no alternative. There is no alternative and free  and independent life of our believing people in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Today, it is imperative to show will and commit to seeking a solution  to the conflict exclusively through negotiations and prevention of  violations of the ceasefire regime, to withdraw from the borders the  snipers, to cease unceasing attacks, in order not to cause more  unhappiness to families in the ceasefire regime while preserving the  safe life of our children called for military service. Every bullet  released into the creation of God is directed against God. We see our  mission of spiritual leaders in this: to exhort and instruct,  together with our associates to form that consciousness and that  atmosphere of mutual understanding and tolerance, in the conditions  of which it will be possible to advance the process of peaceful  settlement of the conflict.  At the same time, we must constantly  appeal to servicemen to maintain the cease-fire regime and refrain  from provocations. We attach great importance to the role of the  international community, in particular, the mission of the OSCE Minsk  Group in the application of control mechanisms on the contact line  and the investigation of incidents at the border. We express our  gratitude to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill and the entire Russian  Orthodox Church for the compassion and mediation efforts that they  have shown since the first day of the conflict. God desires those who  follow the paths of justice and peace, for there His love and  blessing, revelation and mercy, as the Holy Scripture says: "The  fruit of righteousness is sown in the world for those who keep the  peace" (James 3:18). Therefore, we will unite our efforts and will  jointly follow these paths. In this process, we all are responsible.  We raise Our prayers to the God, asking for the blessing and crowning  success of the initiatives of all the husbands, public structures and  organizations that are aimed at restoring relations between the two  peoples, consolidating solidarity and forming an atmosphere of mutual  trust. Let the spirit of reconciliation always prevail in the world  and in the life of our peoples, and mutual understanding and goodwill  result in blessing of the Most High."