His Holiness Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, made a special statement on Tuesday in which he called for the extension of the ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh, reports Interfax-Religion.
“I consider the agreements reached with the participation of Russia at the level of the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia very important. I appeal to the state leadership of both countries to use the ceasefire in order to resolve political issues. For the sake of the future of the two neighboring peoples, I call for the extension of the ceasefire and for using it for peaceful negotiations,” His Holiness Patriarch Kirill said in a statement published on the website of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The Patriarch also appealed to all parties of the conflict to spare each other’s lives. “Let the chronometer of bloody strife stop in the name of a peaceful future. Armenia and Azerbaijan have historically been and will be neighbors, Azerbaijanis and Armenians in any case live side by side with each other,” he said.
“A bad peace is better than a good quarrel: this old truth is more relevant today than ever. In the conditions of peace you can meet, communicate, and seek solutions to problems. But when there is a war, human blood is shed, crimes are committed. Under these conditions it is difficult to come to joint political decisions “, Patriarch Kirill noted.
The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church separately addressed spiritual leaders of Armenians and Azerbaijanis: Catholicos Garegin II and Chairman of the Caucasian Muslims Office, Allahshükür Pashazade. “Dear brothers, you and I, have come a long way, working to ensure that this confrontation does not acquire the character of an inter-religious conflict, so that problems are resolved peacefully. Today each of us and all of us together must do everything possible to stop the bloodshed,” the Patriarch stressed.
