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Stepankert, Azerbaijan – A third attempt to halt fighting between the Azerbaijani army and Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh failed on Monday, with the two sides accusing each other of “flagrant violation” of the ceasefire negotiated in Washington.
The failure of US efforts to achieve a violent ceasefire in the decades-long disputed region between Armenia and Azerbaijan is likely to continue a long-term war, amid fears of internationalization of the conflict in light of interference. from various international parties in a fuel rich region.
This “humanitarian ceasefire” in the mountainous Caucasus region was scheduled to enter into force as of September 27, but the two parties to the conflict immediately denounced its violation, as happened in the two previous attempts that had mediated in the last weeks.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry accused the Armenian forces of bombing the city of Tartar and neighboring towns, as well as positions of the Baku army, affirming, for its part, the “strict respect” of the agreement.
Hikmat Hajiyev, an aide to the President of Azerbaijan, said: “This shows once again that Armenia only supports the principle of the humanitarian armistice in words. In fact, it is hiding behind the truce and trying to regroup (its forces) and try to check new sites “.
For its part, the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Ministry condemned the anti-artillery bombardment of its positions in various areas of the front, stressing that its forces “continue to fully adhere to the ceasefire.”
According to the delegate in charge of human rights in Nagorno-Karabakh, a civilian was killed and two others injured on Monday in an Azerbaijani missile attack against a town in this separatist region, while each side denounced the “flagrant violation” of the truce by the opponent.
The deal was negotiated over the weekend in Washington in the midst of US President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign. The latter promised that he would “find a solution” to this conflict, stressing that it would be “easy”.
The first truce was reached between Yerevan and Baku in Moscow on October 10, and a second and fragile truce, like the first, was declared in Paris on October 17, but was not maintained.
