US Secretary of State Antony Brinken met with Armenian Prime Minister Nicole Pashinyan and Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev on Friday (local time), calling for de-escalation in and around Nagorno-Karabakh. “Secretary of State Antony J. Brinken met with Armenian Prime Minister Nicole Pashinyan today.  Blinken urged direct dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan to resolve issues related to or resulting from the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Blinken also spoke with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev. Minister Brinken called for de-escalation and urged direct dialogue between Azerbaijan and Armenia to resolve the issue. Azerbaijani forces recently broke a ceasefire in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone in the Saribaba highlands, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. Nagorno-Karabakh gained independence from Azerbaijan with Armenian support after a bloody post-Soviet conflict in the early 1990s.

In 2020, Azerbaijan and Armenia waged war in the region, and Baku managed to regain some of its separatist-held territory. Under the terms of the ensuing ceasefire, Russian peacekeepers were deployed to protect the remaining separatist-held territory. Both sides have accused each other of transgressions, and violence has escalated recently. “The situation in the contingent’s area of responsibility is deteriorating.

In the area of the Salibaba highlands, the ceasefire was broken by the Azerbaijani army,” the Russian Defense Ministry said. “The command of the Russian peacekeepers, together with representatives from the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides, is taking steps to stabilize the situation,” she added. Azerbaijani forces seized several heights in Nagorno-Karabakh on Wednesday, said Defense Ministry spokesman Sputnik.

According to the ministry, Armenian soldiers carried out acts of sabotage against the Azerbaijani army in violation of the trilateral agreement between Baku, Yerevan and Moscow. “Several heights in Karabakh have been brought under control as a result of response operations carried out by units of the Azerbaijan Army,” the agency said.

News Summary:

• Check all news and articles from the latest World news updates.