Heavy fighting continues in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, with Armenia and Azerbaijan accusing each other of shelling residential areas.
Authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh say Azerbaijani rockets struck the town of Martakert and several villages in the Martuni region during the night.
Nagorno-Karabakh officials said that 927 of their soldiers were killed and more than 30 civilians were killed.
Azerbaijan did not disclose its military losses, but said 63 civilians had been killed and 292 wounded.
Fighting continues in the breakaway mountainous enclave of Azerbaijan. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers to “end the violence and protect civilians” after nearly a month of intense fighting.
Mr. Pompeo met separately with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan in Washington on Friday. The U.S. State Department issued a statement saying, “The Secretary also emphasized the need for the parties to engage in substantive negotiations under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to resolve the conflict in accordance with the Helsinki Final Act principles of non-use of force or threat of force, territorial integrity, equal rights and self-determination of peoples.”
Pompeo tweeted after the talks that he and the two foreign ministers had discussed “key steps” toward a cessation of violence. Both sides must implement a ceasefire and return to substantive negotiations,” he said. Mnatsakanian said on Friday.
Mnatsakanian told VOA on his way out of the State Department on Friday that the talks had gone “very well. About two dozen demonstrators, most of them Armenian, gathered outside the State Department. Asked about a timetable for a cease-fire, Mnatsakanian said, “We (will) continue to work.
Before Washington arranged the meeting, Russia made two failed attempts to broker a cease-fire. It is the worst outbreak of fighting in the region in more than 25 years.
Pompeo has joined other global leaders in trying to push for an end to the fighting in the Naka region. But Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Wednesday that at this stage of the conflict, he does not see a diplomatic solution possible.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has said that Armenian troops must withdraw from Nagorno-Karabakh to end the conflict. Russian President Vladimir Putin says the conflict may have killed some 5,000 people since the violence began.
Turkey said on Wednesday that it would not hesitate to send troops and provide military support to Azerbaijan if the latter requests it. Pompeo called on other countries not to add fuel to the conflict.
Just before the talks in Washington, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he wants to work with Russia to resolve the conflict.
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