The ceasefire that Armenia and Azerbaijan signed earlier this month, ending fighting in and around Nagorno Karabakh should be cemented and tensions de-escalated, foreign minister Luigi Di Maio said on Friday.
Humanitarian aid to the region and the return of displaced persons are also priorities, Di Maio told Azeri counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov by phone, according to a foreign ministry statement.
Respecting the commitments made by both sides in the ceasefire and the stabilisation of the region could create the conditions to restart of real negotiations towards a comprehensive and sustainable solution to the conflict, Di Maio told Bayramov, the statement said.
Such a solution will cover the future status of Nagorno Karabakh and "ensure full protection of the respective cultural and religious heritages in the area," according to the statement.
Di Maio reiterated Italy's satisfaction at the 10 November ceasefire which ended the worst fighting in the region since the 1990s, the statement noted.
The minister "assured Italy's readiness to contribute to relaunching the negotiation process, for the good of the two peoples and for the benefit of regional stability," the statement said.
"In this regard, he emphasized the prospects for regional integration that a lasting peace could open up, emphasizing the importance of reconciliation between the parties."
Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but populated by ethnic Armenians.
