2023-06-28 06:02:44
– Four Armenian soldiers were killed by Azerbaijani fire
Azerbaijan took over significant territories in Nagorny-Karabakh following the conflict with Armenia in 2020.
Published today at 08:02
An Azerbaijani flag flies on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
KAREN MINASYAN/AFP
Four Armenian soldiers were killed on Wednesday by Azerbaijani fire in Nagorny-Karabakh, authorities in this separatist region disputed by Armenia and Azerbaijan said.
“Azerbaijani Armed Forces units opened fire on Armenian positions” in Martouni and Martakert districts overnight, using artillery and drones, the separatist Defense Ministry said in a statement on Twitter. “Four soldiers were killed as a result of this new provocation by Azerbaijan,” according to the same source.
Talks initiated under the aegis of the United States
This announcement comes as Washington hosts since Tuesday new negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan aimed at finding a settlement of the conflict in Nagorny-Karabakh.
The head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken thus met separately on Tuesday with his Armenian counterparts Ararat Mirzoïan and Azerbaijani Djeyhoun Baïramov before bringing them together.
The discussions are being held behind closed doors and are due to last until Thursday.
“We continue to believe that peace is within reach and that direct dialogue is the key to resolving outstanding issues and achieving a lasting and dignified peace” for both parties, the spokesperson for the Department of Defense assured Monday. ‘State, Matthew Miller.
The United States had already brought the two ministers together in Washington in early May. Discussions have also taken place in recent weeks in Brussels and Moscow.
Russia asked Azerbaijan last week to restore access via Armenia to the separatist enclave of Nagorny-Karabakh, following the start of new shortages in this disputed region of the Caucasus.
Since December, Yerevan has accused its neighbor of hindering supplies to the breakaway region by blocking the Lachin corridor.
6,500 deaths in 2020
Azerbaijan and Armenian separatist forces, supported militarily by Armenia, clashed in two wars, one at the breakup of the USSR, the other in the fall of 2020.
During the first, which left 30,000 dead, the separatists took control of Nagorny-Karabakh and buffer zones around this mountainous territory.
During the second conflict, which left 6,500 dead, Azerbaijan took over these buffer zones and a good part of Nagorny-Karabakh.
A ceasefire, signed under the aegis of Moscow, was followed by the deployment of a contingent of Russian peacekeepers, but tensions remain high and negotiations for the signing of a peace treaty have not not advance.
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