Fighting on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border killed a hundred, as attacks from both sides on Tuesday fueled fears of broader hostilities between longtime adversaries.
Armenia said at least 49 of them were killed; Azerbaijan said it had lost 50.
Hostilities erupted minutes after midnight, when Azerbaijani forces unleashed an artillery bombardment and drone strikes on many sections of Armenian territory, according to Armenia’s Defense Ministry.
The ministry said fighting continued into the day despite Russia’s attempt to broker a rapid ceasefire. He noted that the shelling had become less intense, but said Azerbaijani troops were still seeking to advance on Armenian territory.
The ministry added that Azerbaijan’s shelling had civilian infrastructure and wounded an unknown number of people.
Azerbaijan accused its forces of retaliating in reaction to “large-scale provocations” through the Armenian army, saying Armenian troops had laid mines and fired on Azerbaijani army positions, causing unspecified casualties and damage to army infrastructure.
U. S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed “deep concern” over the army’s action on the border in an evening call with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, according to a State Department statement.
“Secretary Blinken suggested to President Aliyev to stop hostilities and, under pressure, the United States will press for an early cessation of fighting and a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” he said.
Azerbaijan and Armenia are locked in a decades-long standoff over Nagorno-Karabakh, which is part of Azerbaijan but has been under the control of Armenian-backed ethnic Armenian forces since the end of a separatist war in 1994.
Azerbaijan recaptured large swaths of Nagorno-Karabakh in a six-week war in 2020 that killed more than 6600 people and ended a Russian-brokered peace deal. He has sought friendly ties with the two former Soviet nations.
Aliyev from Azerbaijan held a meeting with army officers to discuss the situation. “He said that the duty of the existing tension falls entirely on the political leaders of Armenia,” his office said.
Turkey, a best friend of Azerbaijan, also blamed Armenia for the violence. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called on Yerevan to avoid its “provocations” and Defense Minister Hulusi Akar condemned “Armenia’s competitive attitude and provocative actions. “
Speaking in parliament early Tuesday, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan rejected Azerbaijan’s claim that it is responding to Armenian provocations. He said his recent EU-negotiated talks with Aliyev in Brussels revealed what he described as Azerbaijan’s uncompromising stance.
Pashinyan noted that Azerbaijan’s action followed its recent EU-brokered talks with Aliyev in Brussels, which he described as Azerbaijan’s uncompromising stance.
As fighting intensified overnight, Pashinyan temporarily called Russian President Vladimir Putin and then held phone calls with French President Emmanuel Macron, European Council President Charles Michel, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Blinken to discuss the hostilities.
The governor of Gegharkunik province, one of the sites that was bombed in Azerbaijan, said there was a 40-minute pause in fighting, reflecting Moscow’s attempt to broker a truce, before hostilities resume later.
The governor, Karen Sarkisyan, said 4 Armenians in his domain were killed and 43 others wounded by the shelling.
The Armenian government said it would officially ask Russia under a treaty of friendship between the countries and also appeal to the United Nations and the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a Moscow-dominated security alliance of ex-Soviet nations that includes Armenia.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on Armenia’s request, but added in a conference call with reporters that Putin “does everything he can to help defuse tensions. “
Armenia’s Foreign Ministry said senior officials from the security organization held an assembly to discuss the fighting. Armenia’s representative to the organization under pressure in the assembly that Yerevan expects its allies to take “effective collective measures for the security, territorial integrity and sovereignty of Armenia. “
The Russian Foreign Ministry suggested that either side “chorus further escalation and restraint of the exercise. “
Moscow has engaged in a delicate balancing act, maintaining strong economic and security ties with Armenia, which hosts a Russian military base, while achieving close cooperation with oil-rich Azerbaijan.