Due to the escalation of tensions in the center, the leader of the unrecognized Karabakh Republic, Arajik Harutyunyan, announced a partial military mobilization.
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Nagorno-Karabakh was controlled by Armenian separatists at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s. At the time, the fighting claimed 30,000 dead and hundreds of thousands of refugees. Another round of conflict between the two warring parties broke out in the fall of 2020.
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During the Six Week War, Armenia suffered defeat and territorial losses, but retained control of most of the enclave thanks to Russian mediation. The number of victims of the previous year’s conflict is estimated at 5,600.
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On the basis of a ceasefire agreement brokered by Moscow, Russian peacekeeping troops moved into the remaining parts of the territory controlled by the separatists.
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Representatives of both countries blamed each other for the renewed clashes on Wednesday. According to the Interfax news agency, the Russian Defense Ministry said the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh had worsened and blamed Azerbaijan for one ceasefire violation. Moscow noted that its troops, together with representatives of both countries, are trying to stabilize the situation.
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The European Union called on both sides to immediately stop hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh, and a spokesman for the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, called on those involved to respect the ceasefire and return to the negotiating table. Ceasefire violations occur fairly regularly in the region, Reuters noted.
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