After violence broke out on the border between the two nations this week, bringing a long-running conflict to the verge of rekindling, Russia asserted that it had mediated a cease-fire between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
According to statements made by the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia on November 9, 2020, January 11, and November 26, 2021, “we call on the parties to refrain from further escalation of the situation, exercise restraint, and strictly observe the ceasefire,” a Russian foreign ministry statement said.
“We have regular communication with Yerevan and Baku. The Armenian leadership made a request for help in ending the conflict. “We expect that the agreement reached through Russian mediation on a ceasefire beginning at 9.00 am Moscow time on September 13 will be fully implemented,” it added.
The declaration comes after a phone call that President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia had earlier on Tuesday. Azerbaijani local media likewise covered the cease-fire but said it had already been broken.
The Armenian Defense Ministry asserted that artillery strikes were made on Tuesday morning.
town borders in Armenia. According to the Armenian Defense Ministry, the attack used drones and heavy weapons fired at Goris, Sotk, and Jermuk.
In a statement in response, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense acknowledged the strikes but stated that they were “small-scale” and “intended to guarantee the security of Azerbaijan’s borders.”
On Monday, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense accused Armenian forces of firing small arms in the general direction of the Husulu and Novoivanovka settlements in the Lachin and Gadabay regions, respectively, close to the border between the two nations. Armenia refuted the claims.
The Nagorno-Karabakh region, a landlocked enclave between Eastern Europe and Western Asia that was inhabited and ruled by ethnic Armenians but situated in Azerbaijani territory, was the source of conflict between the two nations in 2020. After rebels supported by Armenia agreed to give up control of some of the troubled region’s areas, hostilities halted.
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, when the area, supported by Armenia, declared independence from Azerbaijan, there has been turmoil in the area. The area, which is recognised as Azerbaijani internationally, is one that Azerbaijan has long maintained it will recover.
On Tuesday, Armenia urged Russia to carry out a 1997 defence pact that states the two nations will defend one another’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the case of an outside assault.
“A decision was made to formally apply to the UN Security Council, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, and the Russian Federation for the implementation of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance provisions regarding the aggression against the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia,” according to the statement.
According to a statement from Nikol Pashinyan’s office, the request came following a meeting of the Armenian Security Council and a phone contact between Pashinyan and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
After helping to mediate a ceasefire agreement in early November 2020 that put an end to an over two-month fighting that at least 6,500 people were killed in, Russia earlier sent what it referred to as peacekeeping personnel to the area.
According to a statement from his office, Pashinyan also spoke with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday, requesting a “appropriate reaction” from the international community in response to what he called “the aggression initiated by Azerbaijan on the sovereign territory of Armenia.”
Blinken demanded the “prompt suspension of hostilities” on Monday night.
According to sources, there have been attacks along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, including strikes on towns and other civilian infrastructure inside Armenia, according to a statement from Blinken. “There can be no military solution to the crisis, as we have long made clear. We demand an immediate halt to all military hostilities.