The new fighting between the armies of Armenia and Azerbaijan is the most serious incident since the two countries resumed efforts at peace negotiations to end the 30-year conflict.
Armenia said on February 13 that four of its soldiers were killed and another was injured by bullets from Azerbaijani soldiers in a fight that occurred near the village of Nerkin Hand in the south of the country due to Azerbaijani fire during the fight. war between the two armies.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have blamed each other for sparking new fighting across the border between the two countries.
The Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense said that Armenian soldiers opened fire on Azerbaijani army positions along the northwestern border region. The Armenian side has denied this allegation.
Last December, Azerbaijan and Armenia issued a joint statement, agreeing to take new steps towards normalizing relations and exchanging prisoners of war, as part of joint goodwill gestures to promote reconciliation between two neighbors in the South Caucasus region.
These two neighboring countries have been locked in a decades-long conflict over control of the Nagorny-Karabakh region, located deep in the southwestern territory of Azerbaijan, but where the majority of the population is of Armenian origin. wants to annex Armenia.
Dialogues to find a solution to the Nagorny-Karabakh issue have been held since 1992 with the mediation of the Minsk group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), with the participation of Russia. , France, America, Belarus, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Finland and Turkey, but could not cool down the recurring conflicts.
On September 19, 2023, Azerbaijan suddenly sent troops to Nagorny-Karabakh and after only a day of fighting regained control of this area after ethnic Armenian forces laid down their weapons and disbanded their forces.
According to Reuters, this fighting is the most serious incident since the two countries resumed peace negotiation efforts.
Responding to the incident, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow called on Yerevan and Baku to exercise restraint in the face of the current escalating situation and hoped that the preparation process for the peace treaty would continue.
