2023-06-29 03:02:00
The fighting took place in the Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. Photo: AFP file
Four Armenian soldiers were killed this Wednesday by shots from Azerbaijani forces in Nagorno-Karabakh, said the authorities of this separatist region disputed by both Caucasian countries, which yesterday began a new negotiation under the auspices of the United States.
“Units of the Azerbaijani armed forces opened fire on the Armenian positions” in the Martuni and Martakert districts, the Defense Ministry said. separatist in a statement.
“Four soldiers were killed by this new Azerbaijani provocation,” said the same source, quoted by the AFP news agency.
The announcement occurs in the middle of some new negotiations started Tuesday in Washington between Armenia and Azerbaijan to find a solution to the conflict in this region.
The discussions in Washington, in which the diplomatic heads of the three countries participate, take place behind closed doors and should last until tomorrow.
The United States already brought together the two clashing ministers in Washington at the beginning of May. Talks have also been held in Brussels and Moscow in recent weeks.
“I have encouraged Armenia and Azerbaijan to continue to move towards peace, as well as avoid provocations and de-escalate tensions to restore trust,” National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan tweeted. after receiving the Armenian, Ararat Mirzoyan, and Azerbaijani, Jeyhun Bayramov, foreign ministers at the White House, reported AFP.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had warned of a “high risk of destabilization in the South Caucasus.”
Azerbaijan and the Armenian separatist forces, militarily backed by Yerevan, had two armed conflicts by the Republic of Arsaj (Nagorno Karabakh), a region with a majority population of Armenian origin, one after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and another at the end of 2020.
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In the first conflict, which caused 30,000 deaths, the separatists took control of Nagorno Karabagh and other transition zones around this mountainous territory.
In the second, with 6,500 deaths, Azerbaijan retook these transition zones and much of the disputed region.
Under the auspices of Moscow, a ceasefire was signed and a contingent of Russian peacekeepers was deployed in the area, but negotiations to sign a peace treaty are not advancing.
In this context, Washington sponsors and hosts the negotiations that are held behind closed doors near the US capital until Thursday.
“We are deeply shocked by the loss of life in Nagorno Karabagh and offer our condolences to the families of all those who died,” Deputy State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters.
The US official added that this justified a “direct dialogue” between the two countries on this disputed region, in order to achieve a “lasting peace.”
As to whether the deaths of the soldiers will have repercussions in the negotiations, he replied that there was “no change in the schedule.”
Russia last week asked Azerbaijan to restore access from Armenia to this breakaway enclave of Nagorno Karabakh, which was subjected to new problems of shortages.
Since December, Armenia has accused its neighbor of hindering supplies to this disputed region.
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