Armenia, Azerbaijan Urged To Seek Lasting Cease-Fire As Diplomatic Efforts Continue
According to RFE/RL, diplomatic efforts to end the fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh region have intensified after the two sides blamed each other for the collapse of a U.S. brokered cease-fire.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to pursue a diplomatic solution and abide by the cease-fire, which collapsed on October 26.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said 21 civilians were killed and 70 injured on October 28 in a rocket attack on the city of Barda. Four civilians were reportedly killed in another attack in the city on the previous day.
Yerevan denied carrying out the attacks, calling the October 28 report “groundless and false.”
The Armenian Defense Ministry on October 28 accused Azerbaijani forces of shelling a maternity clinic in Nagorno-Karabakh’s main city, Stepanakert.
“Information about victims is being clarified,” ministry spokesman ShushanStepanian told journalists in Yerevan.
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry called the accusation “deliberately spread disinformation.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone on October 27 with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, telling him about contacts with the leaderships of Azerbaijan and Armenia and the "steps being taken to achieve a cease-fire as soon as possible and de-escalate the crisis," a Kremlin statement said.
It was the second call between Putin and Erdogan since fighting erupted on September 27, raising fears of a wider conflict in the South Caucasus drawing in NATO member Turkey, which is an ally of Azerbaijan, and Russia, which has a military pact with Armenia.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also discussed Nagorno-Karabakh in a phone call.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said Lavrov raised the issue of mercenaries transferred into the conflict zone. Both diplomats emphasized the need to ensure a lasting cease-fire as soon as possible and stress there was no alternative to a peaceful solution, the ministry said.
Pompeo spoke by phone with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev separately. Pompeo "pressed the leaders to abide by their commitments to cease hostilities and pursue a diplomatic solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," the State Department said.
Fighting was reported along several parts of the front line on October 27, with heavy clashes reported in the southern sector near the border with Iran.
