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DEMANDS STOP: Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron want an end to the war in Nagorno-Karabakh. Photo: LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP
Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron call for a complete cessation of the fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh.
“Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron are calling on the conflicting parties to stop the fighting completely, reduce tensions as quickly as possible and show full restraint,” a statement from Moscow said Wednesday night.
The two presidents are willing to intensify diplomatic efforts to help resolve the conflict, according to the statement.
Earlier Wednesday, Russia offered to mediate between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Russia’s Foreign Ministry has invited the two countries’ foreign ministers to the peace talks, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
The Nagorno-Karabakh enclave is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but is controlled by Armenian separatists.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has tried to mediate the conflict for decades. At the turn of the year, Sweden will take over the leadership of the OSCE.
The conflict is raging
Intense fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces continued on Wednesday for the fourth consecutive day since the conflict broke out on Sunday, writes the AP news agency.
Statements from both sides of the conflict suggest that it does not seem to go away immediately. The president of Azerbaijan demands that Armenia withdraw from the disputed region. Armenia is furious at Turkey’s involvement in the conflict, saying that the neighboring country’s actions “prevent attempts by the international community to end the hostility.”
Nagorno-Karabakh is located in Azerbaijan, but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces that have been supported by the Armenian government since 1994.
GUN CLEANING: Young volunteers help to keep weapons near Hadrut in Nagorno-Karabakh. Photo: Karen Mirzoyan / AP
The two countries have been fighting for decades over land, where a separatist war was fought in the early 1990s and up to three years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
According to Nagorno-Karabakh officials, around 100 officials and several civilians on their side have been killed since the conflict broke out on Sunday. Azerbaijani authorities do not report military deaths, but say 14 civilians were killed on their side.
The conflict escalated on Tuesday when Armenia claimed that a Turkish F-16 jet shot down a SU-25 jet from its air defense in Armenian airspace, after which the pilot was killed. Turkey has denied it.
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Russia and NATO are also in the war in the Caucasus
Claims from foreign fighters are coming
Russia claims that rebels from Syria and Libya were sent to Nagorno-Karabakh to fight alongside Azerbaijani forces.
Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but is controlled by Armenian separatists.
Warriors from illegal armed groups, including Syria and Libya, are now being sent to Nagorno-Karabakh to take part in the fighting, a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
– We are deeply concerned, it is further stated.
Russia has military bases in Armenia, while Turkey has pledged support to Azerbaijan.
