Extensive clashes broke out on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan on Tuesday night local time. France takes the clashes to the UN Security Council.
15:05•Updated 15:18
Extensive clashes broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan on Tuesday night local time, in which, according to Armenia, at least 49 Armenian soldiers have been killed. Prime minister Nikol Pashinyan according to this is not the final figure.
Azerbaijan has also reported casualties among its own forces, but has not given the number.
Russia says it has negotiated a ceasefire between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Prime Minister of Armenia said earlier that the fighting subsided after nightfall.
The parties blame each other
Armenia’s Defense Ministry said Azerbaijani forces used artillery, mortars and drones in their attacks. According to Armenia, Azerbaijan struck both military and civilian infrastructure and its forces tried to advance into Armenian territory.
The Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan, on the other hand, said that the country’s forces responded to a provocation from the Armenian side and denied allegations of striking civilian infrastructure.
France will take the recent clashes to the UN Security Council. This was announced by the president Emmanuel Macron office. France currently holds the presidency of the Security Council.
According to the Armenian Prime Minister’s Office, Pashinyan earlier called Macron, the President of Russia to Vladimir Putin and the United States Secretary of State To Antony Blinken calling for an “appropriate reaction” to Azerbaijan’s actions.
In a statement, Blinken said he was deeply concerned about the situation, including the reported attacks on civilian targets, and called for an immediate end to hostilities. responsible for EU external relations Josep Borrell has also published a statement and called for the parties to the negotiating table.
At the emergency meeting of the Security Council of Armenia, it was decided to submit an official request for military assistance to Russia. Armenia belongs to the Russian-led Collective Security Organization (CSTO), which also includes Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
Armenia bowed to territorial cessions in the 2020 war
It is the worst fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan since the war in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region in the fall of 2020, in which more than 6,500 people were killed.
The war ended with a cease-fire agreement brokered by Russia, in which Armenia had to yield to territorial concessions.
As part of the agreement, Russia sent about 2,000 peacekeepers to Nagorno-Karabakh.
The countries also fought over the settlement of the Armenian population in the Nagorno-Karabakh region in the 1990s.