Caucasus: Armistice between Armenia and Azerbaijan

Russia has announced that it has negotiated an end to the cease-fire agreement deadly conflicts Opposed at night, from Azerbaijan to Armenia. According to Moscow, this will take effect from Tuesday morning. “We are confident that the agreement reached following Russia’s mediation of the cease-fire from 9am Moscow time (to 8am Switzerland) will be fully respected,” it said in a statement. Russian Diplomacy.

Moscow said it was “very concerned about the sharp deterioration in the situation”. “We call on the parties to refrain from any escalation and show restraint,” the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed in a statement.

At least 49 Armenian soldiers have been killed in these border clashes with Azerbaijan, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced Tuesday morning. These are the deadliest clashes since the war between the two Caucasian nations in 2020. Azerbaijan, for its part, admitted “losses” during these clashes that erupted overnight, without specifying exact numbers.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has asked Baku and Yerevan to “strictly respect the cease-fire (already in force since 2020, editor’s note) in accordance with the trilateral declarations issued by the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia on November 9, 2020. And one half of the war.”

Russian diplomacy, which is in “close contact” with the leaders of these two rival ex-Soviet republics in the Caucasus, confirmed that it “received a call from Armenian leaders with a request for assistance in resolving the situation.” “All disputed issues between Armenia and Azerbaijan should be resolved exclusively through political and diplomatic means,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

In autumn 2020, after a 44-day war, Moscow brokered a ceasefire between Yerevan and Baku, sending peacekeepers to Nagorny Karabakh. But despite attempts by the European Union to mediate, the situation remains volatile.

Overnight, the US said it was “deeply concerned” and called for an immediate end to fighting between Baku and Yerevan. Azerbaijan’s ally Turkey on Tuesday called on Armenia to “stop its provocations and focus on peace talks”.

Historically complicated, relations between Yerevan and Baku continue to be poisoned today by the dispute over Nagorny Karabakh, a predominantly Armenian-populated region that seceded from Azerbaijan with the backing of Armenia.

After a first war in the early 1990s that killed more than 30,000 people, Armenia and Azerbaijan clashed again in the fall of 2020 for control of the mountain. More than 6500 people were killed in this new war, which was lost by Armenia.