(Bloomberg) — Azerbaijan and Armenia reported that a truce appeared to be holding after border clashes that killed more than 200 troops on both sides in the worst fighting between the Caucasus neighbors since a 2020 war.
Most Read from Bloomberg
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said the situation remained “very tense” in separate calls with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron, his office said Friday. The death toll among Armenian troops in this week’s fighting has risen to 135 with many others wounded, Pashinyan told a government meeting.
Azerbaijan has reported at least 71 deaths among its forces. Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov on Thursday spoke by phone with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and US Under Secretary of Defense Colin Kahl, while Azerbaijan’s army chief also held talks with his Turkish counterpart.
Armenia and Azerbaijan blame each other for starting the fighting that began in the early hours of Tuesday and spiraled into the worst confrontation since a 44-day war over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020 that killed thousands of soldiers on both sides until Putin brokered a truce.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev is holding talks Friday with Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Uzbekistan.
A fact-finding mission from the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization is in Armenia after Pashinyan formally invoked the defense pact and requested assistance from Moscow and other former Soviet republics in protecting its sovereignty.
China’s Foreign Ministry on Friday urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to abide by the cease-fire.
Blinken has assumed a key role in the effort to end the clashes and secure a permanent cease-fire, a senior State Department official said Thursday, asking not to be identified discussing the diplomatic overtures. While a truce is in place, the official said much more must be done to address the causes of the conflict and put in place a formal peace process.
Putin’s War Is Deepening a Tussle for Influence in Central Asia
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will travel to Armenia at the weekend in a show of support, Politico reported Thursday, citing two people familiar with the plan that it didn’t identify.
While Azerbaijan and Armenia have held talks to try to delineate their common border and open up transport routes as part of the truce Putin negotiated, they have yet to reach a final peace agreement.
Azerbaijani troops seized 100 square kilometers (39 square miles) of territory from Armenians along the non-delineated border on Tuesday, the pro-government Caliber news service in Baku reported. Pashinyan has accused Azerbaijani forces of taking over 10 square km of Armenian territory in the clashes in addition to 40 square km they had occupied in May.
“Armenia’s position is that Azerbaijan should withdraw its military forces from the territory of Armenia,” he told the government meeting.
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
