The Armenian Defense Ministry announced late this afternoon that it had agreed to Russia’s “mediation” in a ceasefire with Azerbaijan, following a day of clashes between Armenian and Azeri forces in the disputed Caucasus-Nagorno-Karabakh-Nagorno-Karabakh region. from last year’s war in the region.
“Through the mediation of the Russian side, an agreement was reached to end the exchange of fire on the eastern border of Armenia from 18.30 in the afternoon,” the Armenian Defense Ministry said in a statement. “The situation has relatively stabilized,” he said, adding that an Armenian soldier was killed in the clashes today.
Armenian parliament speaks of 15 Armenian soldiers killed in the conflicts on the border of the country with Azerbaijan.
Armenia also lost control of “two military positions” and 12 of its soldiers were captured, according to Yerevan, while claiming that Armenian forces in response inflicted “heavy losses” on Azerbaijani forces.
Earlier in the day, Armenian Prime Minister Nicole Pasinian denounced “aggression against sovereign Armenian territory” during a meeting of the National Security Council, accusing Baku of targeting “Armenia’s state system, sovereignty and independence.”
Earlier in the day, Yerevan called on Moscow to help defend Armenia’s territorial integrity with Azerbaijan, and said a fierce border clash between Azeri and Armenian forces was under way.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Pasinian discussed the situation, during a telephone conversation they had today announced late today the Kremlin, without giving further details.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had telephone conversations with his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts, calling on them to stop activities that are escalating the situation between the two countries, according to Interfax.
The latest developments reflect the precarious balance in the Caucasus powder keg, almost a year after the end of the six-week bloody conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh. In the autumn of 2020, Nagorno-Karabakh was the scene of a war between Azerbaijan and Armenia in which more than 6,500 people were killed.
The conflict ended with the heavy defeat of Armenia, the signing of a Russian-mediated ceasefire, and the concession to Azerbaijan of important territories it claimed from World War I until the early 1990s.
Today’s conflicts are the fiercest since the end of last year’s war.
The UN, through Deputy Secretary-General Farhan Haq, called on “all parties to show restraint, stressing the need” to avoid a return to last year’s escalation of hostilities.
“We call on all parties to show restraint, to act in accordance with the tripartite declarations of 9 November 2020 and 11 January 2021 and to resolve any possible disputes peacefully and through dialogue,” he added.
French diplomacy, worried about the “alleged use of heavy weapons, which caused many casualties, especially on the Armenian side”, on its part urged “observance of the ceasefire”, which was achieved after the end of last year’s hostilities.
European Council President Charles Michel spoke with the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan, calling for “urgent de-escalation”.
Azerbaijan has accused Armenia of “deliberately escalating tensions”, calling it a “large-scale provocation”. The Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan stated that Armenian soldiers left their military positions “panicked”, stressing that two Azeri soldiers were injured in today’s clashes.
These clashes come after weeks of growing tensions between the two former Soviet republics, with regular reports of violence and casualties in the two countries’ armed forces being reported.
The defeat of Armenia last year was experienced as a trauma by a large part of its population and continues to shake the political scene to this day.
Several thousand people demonstrated in the Armenian capital last week to demand the resignation of Pasinyan, who has been described by the opposition as a “traitor” to last year’s truce with Baku.
For its part, Azerbaijan was able to count on, during this war, the support of Turkey, which provided it with highly combative drones.
Source: AMPE
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Source From: Capital
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