"Italy insists on solving the Karabakh conflict peacefully and diplomatically. We do not want any military action in the region," Gentiloni said at a press conference in Yerevan.
The Italian foreign minister added that Italy supported the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs in their work to find the solution for the crisis.
Gentiloni visited Georgia and Azerbaijan as part of a mission to the southern Caucasus that began on November 6.
Azerbaijan's Armenian-dominated breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh proclaimed its independence in 1991. After the military conflict ended in 1994, Azerbaijan lost control over the region. Violence erupted in Nagorno-Karabakh on April 2, 2016 and led to multiple casualties. The parties to the conflict signed a Russian-brokered ceasefire on April 5, but mutual accusations have not stopped so far.
The Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), co-chaired by France, Russia and the United States, has been attempting to resolve the conflict since 1992. Azerbaijan insists on preserving its territorial integrity, Armenia protects the interests of the breakaway republic, as Karabakh is not a party to the negotiations.
