Some observers, including in Armenia, believe that Moscow wants to station its own peacekeepers on the frontline between the Azerbaijani army and Armenian and separatist Karabakhi forces.
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A six-year war in Nagorno-Karabakh, a predominantly ethnic-Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan, ended in 1994, but violent outbreaks between Armenian and Azeri forces have continued ever since.
The EEAS press release said Mogherini had stressed in her calls yesterday “that all parties must take the necessary steps to create an environment conducive to successful negotiations, including avoiding actions and statements which could further complicate the already complex environment”. The claims came from defense authorities of Armenia and of Azerbaijan.
Russian president Vladimir Putin spoke separately by phone with the Azeri and Armenian leaders on Tuesday, and on Thursday Russia’s prime minister Dmitry Medvedev is due to visit Armenia, while Moscow’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov will hold talks in Azerbaijan.
The Nagorno-Karabakh dispute is one of a number of ethnic conflicts that erupted with the breakup of the Soviet Union.
Merkel said that Germany advocated resolving the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan peacefully and wanted to “help constructively”.
Though Moscow has the strongest hand to play to pressure both sides into occasionally abiding by the ceasefire agreements, the absence of any worldwide mechanisms to enforce a lasting settlement over a highly militarized Karabakh will leave the impoverished region in limbo as another of the half dozen post-Soviet frozen conflict zones.
Kim and Khloe Kardashian, both proud of their Armenian-American heritage, urged their vast social media followings to pray for Armenia amid violent clashes that left at least 64 people dead in recent days.
Armenians violated the truce 110 times in the past day, including with mortars, and the Azeri army fired 114 times in retaliation, the Defense Ministry in Baku said Friday on its website.
In a bid to cement the truce, mediators have set out to the region to shuttle between the two warring sides in a flurry of diplomacy.
Rouhani asked both Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan to exercise restraint in dealing with the current conflict in the disputed region.
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Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan said Wednesday the cease-fire was agreed in Moscow by top military officers of Armenia and Azerbaijan. Fighting between Armenia, a Russian ally, and Azerbaijan, which has stronger ties to North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member Turkey, would also potentially disrupt a new energy corridor between central Asia and Europe.
