France, Russia, and the United States have called for a ceasefire between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces, which continue to clash over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The current conflict threatens to expand into a full-scale war.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have rejected calls for a ceasefire in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. In recent days, fighting in the Nagorno-Karabakh region has escalated to levels not seen since the 1990’s. France, Russia, and the U.S. are among the most important security actors in Europe.
France, Russia, and the United States are co-chairmen of the Minsk Group of the Council for Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). The mission of the OSCE Minsk Group is to find a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. The three countries issued a joint statement calling for “an immediate cessation of hostilities” between Armenia and Azerbaijan and for the leaders of the two countries to “commit themselves to the resumption of substantive negotiations without delay.
Russia also offered to host talks between the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan to end the fighting that broke out on Sunday. The fighting has reignited a decades-long conflict in the landlocked enclave. The Nagorno-Karabakh region lies within Azerbaijan, but is governed by ethnic Armenians and supported by the Armenian government.
The fighting has left dozens dead and hundreds wounded, and has spread beyond the borders of the Naqqa region.
The conflict intensified on Tuesday, when Armenia claimed that a Turkish F-16 fighter jet shot down an Armenian Su-25 fighter jet in Armenian airspace, killing the pilot.
Turkey and Azerbaijan deny the claim.
Despite urgent international calls for an end to the violence, Azerbaijani President Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Pashinian rejected the possibility of talks on Russian state television on Tuesday.
This week, the UN Security Council called for an immediate cessation of hostilities, and the spokesman for UN Secretary General Guterres and the US State Department have also called for a ceasefire.
As a result of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, both Armenia and Azerbaijan announced on Sunday the imposition of martial law and the mobilization of their armies.
The enclave declared its secession from Azerbaijan during the Nagorno-Karabakh war that ended in 1994, but no country has yet recognized Nagorny Karabakh as an independent republic.
Should war break out between the two former Soviet republics, regional powers Turkey and Russia could become involved. The Turkish government supports Azerbaijanis, who are also of Turkic ethnicity. Moscow has a defense agreement with Armenia, is a key supporter of the Armenian government, and maintains a military base in Armenia.
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