At least a hundred Azerbaijani and Armenian soldiers died in the most violent fighting recorded since the war between the two countries in 2020, which led the international community to call for “prudence” and a peaceful resolution of the conflict.
“Fifty Azerbaijani military personnel were killed following a far-reaching Armenian provocation” on the border between the two countries, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said in a statement last night.
For his part, the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, announced before Parliament that “at the moment we have 49 (military) dead and, unfortunately, it is not the definitive figure.” Both countries accused each other of having started the hostilities.
The renewed fighting, which broke out on Monday night, illustrates how volatile the situation remains and threatens to derail a fragile European-brokered peace process. Although Russia announced a ceasefire that was supposedly in force from 06:00 GMT, Azerbaijan accused Armenia of having violated it “intensely” in the afternoon.
Prudence
Armenia and Azerbaijan, two rival former Soviet republics in the Caucasus, have fought two wars in the last three decades for control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, the last of which took place in 2020.
The Armenian Prime Minister denounced an “aggression” by Azerbaijan and asked Russian President Vladimir Putin for reactions; the Frenchman, Emmanuel Macron or the head of US diplomacy, Antony Blinken.