Armenia on Wednesday accused Azerbaijan of initiating fresh attacks on the border, following Monday night clashes that killed a hundred soldiers.
“The situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border remained tense,” the Armenian Defence Ministry has said.
Both sides have accused each other of firing artillery, mortar and small arms that have resulted in the death of 49 Armenian and 50 Azerbaijani troops.
The European Union, United States, France, Turkey, Russia and Iran have all expressed concern over the fighting.
According to Global Times, on Tuesday at 9:00am (Moscow time) Russia claimed to have mediated a truce to halt the fighting.
A BBC report citing Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, “The president is naturally making every effort to help de-escalate tensions at the border.”
On Tuesday, Azerbaijan Defence Minster Colonel General Zakir Hasanov said Armenian forces violated the ceasefire. On the other hand, on Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, while addressing the parliament on Tuesday, has requested international community to take notice of Azerbaijan’s aggressive acts.
According to the BBC, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has personally called both states to urge them to come to a peaceful settlement.
French president Emmanuel Macron has also talked to the Azerbaijan president, requesting him to “return to respect the ceasefire”. Meanwhile, Turkey, which politically and militarily backs Azerbaijan, criticized Armenia by stating that “Armenia should cease its provocations and focus on peace negotiations”.
The Baku-Yerevan clash that started on Monday night is said to be the wildest ever since 2020’s six weeks of war that ended in a peace deal between the two states and Russia.
According to BBC, the 2020 war also resulted in the loss of over 5,000 soldier’s lives and at least 100 people being displaced.
This conflict has existed for three decades and both former Soviet Union states have fought two full-scale wars, the first in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and the second in 2020.
The conflict is grounded in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but populated by ethnic Armenians.
