Pashinyan announced the killing of at least 135 Armenian soldiers this week (AFP)
The Armenian government said in a statement that the Russian President Vladimir Putin He had a phone call with the Prime Minister Nicole Pashinyan Today, Friday, to discuss the clashes that broke out this week between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
“Nicol Pashinyan emphasized that despite the fact that the border has been relatively calm at this point, the situation remains very tense,” the government said in the statement.
The government added that Pashinyan also held telephone conversations with the French president Emmanuel Macron and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Friday.
On Friday, Pashinyan announced that at least 135 Armenian soldiers were killed this week in the worst clashes on the border with Azerbaijan since the 2020 war.
“As of now, the death toll is 135. Unfortunately, this is not the final number. There are also a large number of wounded,” Pashinyan said during a government session. This brings the death toll on both sides to more than two hundred.
The United Nations had called on Azerbaijan and Armenia to “return to the negotiating table and reach a lasting peace agreement.”
In his speech, Miroslav Jenka, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas, said that “the evening of September 12, fierce fighting erupted on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and on Wednesday evening a ceasefire agreement was announced (..) We welcome With this agreement, we hope it will continue.”
“The fighting that erupted between the two countries this week highlights the fact that the process of normalizing relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan continues to face serious obstacles, and this escalation also underscores the urgent need for the parties to move forward on border demarcation and easing tensions,” he stressed.
On Monday, Azerbaijan announced the outbreak of intense border clashes as a result of the provocations of subversive groups of Armenian forces that planted mines in the territory and roads of the Azerbaijani army, which “called for taking the necessary measures to silence the Armenian sources of fire and prevent the expansion of clashes.”
(Archyde.com, Anatolia)
