Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias will arrive in Armenia on October 16 for a working visit, the Armenian Foreign Ministry informs.
The meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the two countries on the same day will be followed by a joint press conference.
Within the framework of the visit Nikos Dendias will have meetings with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and President Armen Sarkissian.
HI has launched a humanitarian needs assessment of the conflict-affected population, particularly in the areas of psychological support, physical rehabilitation, and access to essential items.
According to reliable sources, at least 300 soldiers and 50 civilians have been killed since the start of the conflict. Half the population of Nagorno-Karabakh, some 75,000 people, are reported to have been displaced, of whom 90% are women and children. Many children are still trapped by the fighting. Terrified civilians are having to shelter in basements.
Fighting broke out between the two regular armies of Armenia and Azerbaijan over a disputed territory on 27 September. The conflict spread rapidly. Urban areas have been heavily bombed and shelled, including Stepanakert, the largest city in Nagorno-Karabakh with a population of 55,000, and Ganja, the second-largest city in Azerbaijan, 100 km further east, which has a population of 350,000. Cluster munitions, on which HI obtained a ban under the Oslo Convention in 2008, have been used in Stepanakert.
If the conflict continues to escalate, it could have disastrous humanitarian consequences for civilians.
YEREVAN, Armenia — The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan escalated Wednesday, as both sides exchanged accusations and claims of new attacks over the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, where heavy fighting continues for a third week despite a Russia-brokered cease-fire deal.
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, emphasizing the need to respect the truce that was violated immediately after taking effect Saturday. Putin also voiced concern about the involvement in the conflict by militants from the Middle East — a reference to Turkey deploying Syrian fighters to combat Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Erdogan denied the deployment of combatants to the region in separate comments, but a Syrian war monitor and Syria-based opposition activists have confirmed that Turkey has sent hundreds of Syrian opposition fighters to Nagorno-Karabakh.
In a sign that the conflict was widening, Azerbaijan’s military said it destroyed an Armenian missile system on the territory of Armenia that was positioned to target civilian areas. Armenia’s Defense Ministry responded by stating that it reserves the right to target Azerbaijani military objects and troop movements.
So far, Armenia and Azerbaijan have denied targeting each other’s territory in the fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh, although each of the parties often contested the denials.
An expansion of hostilities beyond the separatist region could trigger a dangerous escalation of the decades-old conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, which is inside Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since the end of a separatist war in 1994. The Armenian forces also have controlled significant chunks of Azerbaijani territory outside the separatist region.
While Russia will likely avoid direct involvement in the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, there are signs it could draw lessons from Libya and recruit fighters from Syria to do its bidding.
The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service recently issued a statement saying that the escalating armed confrontation in Nagorno-Karabakh, “like a magnet, attracts militants from various kinds of international terrorist structures.”
The intelligence service said that according to the information available to it, “Mercenaries from international terrorist organizations fighting in the Middle East — in particular Jabhat al-Nusra, Firqat Hamza, the Sultan Murad Division, as well as extremist Kurdish groups — are actively entering into the conflict zone. Moreover, we are talking about hundreds and even thousands of radicals hoping to make money on the new Karabakh war.”
The Oct. 6 statement, however, does contains some factual inaccuracies. For example, one of the groups named, Jabhat al-Nusra, has not existed since early 2017, when it merged with other groups to become Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. Also, while the statement included Firqat Hamza and the Sultan Murad Division as being among the “international terrorist organizations” operating in Nagorno-Karabakh, these groups are neither on UN international sanctions lists nor are they recognized as terrorist organizations under Russian law. Likewise, the names of these groups do not appear on the corresponding federal list of organizations banned in Russia. While the presence of fighters from Firqat Hamza and the Sultan Murad Division in the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict is supported by various forms of evidence, there is no convincing evidence of the presence of militants from the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham terrorist organization in Azerbaijan.
On the other hand, such a strong statement regarding the forces that Turkey is allegedly using to support Azerbaijan was “balanced” by the intelligence service’s mention of the presence of “Kurdish extremists” in the conflict zone. In this case, the statement was referring to groups that support Armenia. The names were not directly stated, likely in order not to jeopardize relations between Moscow and the Syrian Kurds.
The deployment of Syrian militants to Azerbaijan has been a very sensitive topic in Russia. Russian public opinion does not differentiate between the moderate and extremist opposition in Syria, whether the aforementioned pro-Turkish Syrian groups or fighters from radical terrorist organizations. While the intelligence service’s mention of Jabhat al-Nusra only adds fuel to the fire and could be used as an argument in favor of a future intervention by Moscow in this conflict on the side of Yerevan — under the pretext of fighting terrorism — it would not be without challenges. Armenia is separated from Russia by Georgia and Azerbaijan, so Moscow would not have the opportunity to obtain a corridor for the transfer of their troops to Armenia or for the use of military aviation.
At the same time, the arrival of Syrian militants in Azerbaijan is not so much a factor for possible intervention in the conflict as a source of internal criticism of the Kremlin. Despite the latter’s repeated statements, it has been unable to achieve the main “internal” goal of Moscow’s military operation in Syria: to prevent the emergence of terrorist groups along the perimeter of Russia’s borders. Now the Syrian militants are in Azerbaijan, a mere 50 miles from the border with Russia.
In this context, it was beneficial for the Russian side to stress the presence of “Kurdish extremist groups,” which, according to the intelligence service, came to participate in the conflict on the side of Armenia. While there is no direct evidence of this yet, the potential deployment of Kurdistan Workers Party units or affiliated organizations in the zone of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict would be extremely sensitive for Turkey. If confirmed, instead of Ankara having eliminated the “Kurdish threat” at the southern borders of the country, a “terrorist hotbed” could be being created at Turkey’s northern borders. This could be one price of Turkey’s support for Azerbaijan.
It cannot be ruled out that in the future, if the cease-fire in Karabakh is disrupted and full-scale hostilities resume, Russia would be interested in the involvement of additional military contingents friendly to Yerevan and hostile to Ankara’s regional forces. Armenia, which has very limited resources, will find it increasingly difficult to fight for Nagorno-Karabakh without external assistance. Kurdish groups could become such an element of support and counterbalance the fighters of the Syrian National Army attracted by Ankara.
If the conflict cannot be stopped and it becomes protracted, then the Russian side could also be forced to follow a scenario of supporting Armenia that resembles one it tested in Libya. That is, Moscow would avoid open military intervention in the conflict and direct assistance to the Armenian side. It should be borne in mind that in fact the Armenian armed forces are participating in hostilities, but they do it under the flag of the unrecognized “Republic of Artsakh” on the territory of Azerbaijan. In this case, Moscow recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and considers the authorities of “Artsakh” illegitimate, but leaving without providing support for its ally would be too great a reputational loss for Russia. A similar situation was seen in Libya, where eastern warlord Khalifa Hifter also lacked legitimacy and Russia could not openly intervene on his side. At the same time, the Wagner group came in to support Hifter’s forces.
Yet there are questions over whether Russia could use private military companies such as Wagner in the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. On the one hand, the appearance of Russian or Russian-speaking mercenaries with “Slavic appearance” would most likely be regarded by Baku as direct Russian participation in the occupation of Azerbaijani territory and military support of the occupying forces. Russia would like to avoid such accusations. On the other hand, Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, who according to some sources oversees the activities of Russian private military companies, spoke out in support of Azerbaijan, blaming Armenia and the United States for unleashing the conflict. In an interview with the Turkish daily Aydinlik, he said he sees no problem in the fact that Ankara is providing military assistance to Baku.
“As long as the Turks do not cross the border of Armenia, they have the legal right to interfere in the Karabakh conflict,” Prigozhin said. He claimed that after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan came to power in Armenia, many American nongovernmental organizations appeared in the country. “This is the crux of the problem. Americans are provoking conflict.”
At the same time, Russian political forces interested in supporting Armenia have other opportunities to provide nonstate military assistance to Yerevan, using foreign fighters instead of the Wagner group. A similar practice has already taken place during the Libyan conflict: In order to avoid excessive attention to persons with European appearance operating in the ranks of Hifter’s Libyan National Army, Syrians recruited by Moscow (with the help of the Bashar al-Assad regime’s special services) began to go to Libya.
According to the news website Newsru, the process of transferring Syrians to Libya from Damascus began in 2019 and the first groups included captured Islamic State militants.
There are also reports that Russian recruiters joined efforts to involve Syrians in the conflict in Libya by opening recruitment points in southern Syria, Damascus and Deir ez-Zor. Some reports say former opposition fighters were promised a monthly salary of $1,000 and exemption from criminal prosecution in exchange for agreeing to fight abroad. However, not all of these commitments were fulfilled in full after the return of these Syrians from Libya.
A similar scheme to that of using mercenaries in Libya could be used to support Armenia. However, in this case, Syrian Kurds instead of Syrian Arabs would be involved in the fighting on the side of the Armenian formations. These Kurds would not necessarily be YPG fighters. It is known that the Russian side tried at the end of 2019 to attract Syrian Kurds to participate under the banner of its proxy forces by organizing recruitment centers for militants in the cities of Amuda and Tel Tamr. Also, the appearance of Kurdish militants in Armenia would not become something sensational for the local population, since a significant diaspora of Yazidi Kurds lives in the country, which maintains close ties with Syrian and Iraqi tribesmen.
In turn, the position of Ankara and Baku on the use of Syrian militants to participate in the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict also reflects the Russian approach to the presence of the Wagner Group in Libya. Turkey and Azerbaijan deny the presence of mercenaries, despite the presence of numerous testimonies and statements from the security services and officials of many states. Earlier, Russia took a similar position on Libya, denying the presence of Russian mercenaries and their connection with Moscow, ignoring numerous facts and statements from the intelligence services of European states, the United States and Turkey.
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There are disputes that are brought to limelight only if the parties try and change regional and/or global status-quo
The international system is reliant on national clout and effect. It will only gear up if a nation or a group of nations, through its actions, threatens the global status-quo. Traditionally, the dominant powers dislike threats to the established order as it may usher in uncertainty. There are crises and disputes among nations that are brought to the limelight only if parties to the dispute try and change the regional and/or global status-quo.
Nagorno-Karabakh or Artsakh — as the Armenians call it — in southwestern Azerbaijan, is one such legacy dispute. Some analysts see it as a conflict between Muslim Azerbaijan and Christian Armenia. That view is grounded in the conquests of Turko-Persian Seljuk Empire (1060-1307 AD), when Christian Armenia was firmly under Seljuk suzerainty.
The enclave is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but is populated by ethnic Armenians, therefore, supported by Armenia. In 1923, the Soviet Union established it as an Armenian-majority autonomous oblast (province) of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) having a high degree of self-rule. Now it is a self-declared independent country, not internationally recognised.
The Karabakh Range separates the enclave from Armenia, then the Armenian SSR. The enclave, under the USSR, spread over some 4,400 square kilometres, however, presently it occupies some 7,000 square km after capturing Azerbaijani territory. The region is generally mountainous, forested and rural with some light industry and food-processing plants. Xankändi (formerly Stepanakert) is its capital. It is surrounded on almost all sides by Azerbaijan except a thin strip of land in the southwest, connecting it to Armenia.
During 1988, Armenians of the enclave demanded transfer of their oblast to the Armenian jurisdiction against the wishes of both, the Soviet government and the Azerbaijan SSR. War ensued between the ethnic Armenians and Azeris in the enclave in 1991, after the USSR’s collapse. Karabakh’s Armenian forces, with full support of Armenia, occupied much of southwestern Azerbaijan, including the territory connecting the enclave to Armenia. A ceasefire agreement in 1994 was negotiated by Russia and a committee called the “Minsk Group”, created by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). However, there has been no lasting resolution to the conflict.
The self-proclaimed Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh declared its independence in early 1992, held elections thereafter and approved a new constitution in a 2006 referendum. Azerbaijan considers all these actions illegal under international law. A 2008 landmark agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan pledged movement towards a resolution; however, episodic clashes have occurred throughout the 2010s. A breakdown in diplomacy led to clashes in July and late September this year, hence the recent escalation.
On October 10, both Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to a limited ceasefire brokered by Russia, including prisoners exchange and removal of dead from the battlefield.
During the earlier war in the 1990s, Azerbaijan had put an economic blockade of land-locked Armenia as the war spread beyond Nagorno-Karabakh to the southern part of Armenia-Azerbaijan border. That may happen again if the situation escalates. Then, most of Armenia’s logistics were brought through traditional rail and road network from the Caspian Sea port of Baku, capital of Azerbaijan. Georgia was of limited help, Armenia had no relations with Turkey and roads across Armenia’s short frontier with Iran, to the south, were inadequate for heavy truck traffic. The United States provided 33,000 tons of American grain to Nagorno-Karabakh through Armenia after bread shortages. It airlifted critical items like baby food and medical supplies. That situation has marginally changed.
In the 1990s, 75% of the enclave’s population of 162,000 constituted ethnic Armenians after more than 600,000 Azeris and 200,000 Armenians were displaced. Armenians were outnumbered two to one by Azeris, prompting the US State Department to warn the largely isolated Armenia of a “national catastrophe” in December 1992. Today some 9.9 million Azeris face up to 2.9 million Armenians.
During recent build-up, Armenia killed an Azeri general and other officers in a missile strike on an Azerbaijan Army base in July this year. In the ensuing clashes, the enclave’s capital city, Xankändi, has been hit with missiles and suicide drones. Azerbaijan’s second largest city Ganja, and a hydroelectric station were struck in powerful rocket attacks causing losses. And Azerbaijani drones flew within 20 miles of Yerevan, Armenia’s capital. Ground operations have caused territorial losses to the Armenians.
The next targets could be oil and gas facilities on either side, affecting oil and gas supply to Europe. Azerbaijan accuses Armenia of firing rockets using its territory; ostensibly to invite Azeri retaliation, triggering Armenia’s defense pact with Russia. Turkey is solidly behind Azerbaijan. Any escalation beyond the enclave would draw in Turkey and Russia as Russia has a military base in Armenia and is treaty-bound to protect Armenia.
Russia and France support Armenia’s claim that Turkey deployed Syrian militants to Nagorno-Karabakh, besides using F-16s, thanks to the Armenian diaspora in the US, France and Russia.
Azerbaijan, frustrated by international inaction, seems resolved to fight until it has full control of Nagorno-Karabakh as the Minsk Group has not made any material advancement towards a lasting peace settlement. Its meeting in Geneva on October 8, 2020, with France and Russia — the other co-chairs — was convened nearly two weeks after the conflict. The US seems preoccupied with the pandemic, a popular uprising in Belarus and Trump catching corona.
Russia has been able to at least negotiate a tenuous ceasefire on October 10, as both countries were erstwhile socialist republics. Both use large-calibre, Russian-made Smerch (tornado) rockets and Russia has been supplying the same weapons to both sides for decades.
Azerbaijan rightfully seeks to control all the territory within its UN-recognised borders besides restitution for some 600,000 people displaced by the war in the 1990s. Armenians in the enclave fear Azerbaijani rule. While the Azerbaijan government suspects that the enclave’s Armenians will ultimately opt to join Armenia, it is prepared to allow them “cultural autonomy.”
This festering conflict is far from being settled and would most likely continue till the time the enclave is fully absorbed by Azerbaijan that enjoys all the legal, moral and administrative authority to do so. Azerbaijan has been boldly supporting our Kashmir cause and there are reasons to believe they have Pakistan’s moral and material support in their hour of need, in a just war.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 15th, 2020.
The snipers are like we see in movies, A Srian fighter has said about Armenian snipers.
American video journalist Lindsey Snell has interviewed a Syrian National Army fighter, who recently returned from Azerbaijan.
“My cousins and I have fought in Syria this whole war, and we’ve never seen anything like this,” she quoted the Syrian as saying.
“In one battle, 45 of us were on a small hill. One sniper killed 8 Sultan Murad and 2 Hamza. The snipers are like we see in movies,” he added.
“We are known for our Lahmadjune which is the Armenian pizza or flatbread with ground beef and mixed with some vegetables,” said Yeretsian’s daughter Lara Yeretsian.
The bakery now has five locations throughout LA, but it all started on Santa Monica Blvd 35 years ago.
“My dad is originally from Sasoun, which is the what we call Western Armenia, which is currently occupied by the Turks. He was born there and then moved to Syria. The rest of us were born in Lebanon, and we immigrated to United States, specifically Los Angeles, in 1985,” said Lara Yeretsian.
When the pandemic hit in March, the business felt its impact.
“With time, we learned. Everybody had to adapt. And this is one of the necessities. It’s an essential business, so it had to keep going,” said Lara Yeretsian.
But now they’re fighting for something the family said is bigger than their local community.
The Yeretsians participated in the recent rally in solidarity with the soldiers and the people in Armenia which was organized by the Armenian National Committee of America, Hollywood chapter.
And Lara Yeretsian said several businesses, including the bakery, are donating a portion of the sales to fund medical supplies, food and basic necessities for those in Armenia.
“It’s time for the world to stand up in unity, the international community and say, enough is enough,” said Lara Yeretsian.
The US presidential contender also slammed Turkey’s role in official remarks on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Oct 14, 2020
US presidential contender Joe Biden’s campaign criticized both Azerbaijan and Armenia as well as Turkey in a statement Tuesday on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The Democratic nominee differs with US President Donald Trump on Turkish policy and previously condemned Turkey’s role in the Eurasian war.
Biden released the statement on his official campaign website, and called on US President Donald Trump to pressure Azerbaijan to stop its military actions.
“The Trump Administration must tell Azerbaijan that it will not tolerate its efforts to impose a military solution to this conflict,” said Biden.
The former vice president also said the Trump administration should tell Armenia to negotiate on the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region’s status.
“It must make clear to Armenia that regions surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh cannot be occupied indefinitely and that credible negotiations on a lasting resolution of the conflict must commence immediately once a cease-fire is concluded,” he said.
In late September, Azerbaijan and Armenia began a fresh period of armed conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. The two countries have disputed the region for decades. While Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory, an Armenia-backed government has long controlled the area.
Turkey has historic and linguistic ties to Azerbaijan and backs Azerbaijan militarily. Biden took issue with this as well in his statement Tuesday.
“Turkey’s provision of arms to Azerbaijan and bellicose rhetoric encouraging a military solution are irresponsible,” said Biden.
Biden has criticized Turkish support for Azerbaijan before. Late last month, he demanded Turkey “stay out” of the conflict on Twitter.
Some of Biden’s fellow Democrats perceive Trump as being too friendly with Turkey and its President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In September, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said Trump “admires Erdogan” when criticizing the US president on the issue of mail-in ballots.
Last year, Biden called Erdogan an “autocrat.” Both Biden and Pelosi’s comments on the president elicited a strong reaction from Erdogan supporters in Turkey. Biden’s running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, also joined Biden in criticizing Trump’s repositioning of US troops ahead of Turkey’s incursion into northeast Syria last year.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has drawn in other Middle Eastern states in addition to Turkey. Israel sells arms to Azerbaijan’s military, which has led to criticism from Armenia. Iran also protested spillover shelling from the war that landed in Iranian territory this month.
Biden, who has a softer stance on Iran than Trump does, also said the United States should oppose any Iranian involvement in the Azerbaijan-Armenia war.
“Tell both Turkey and Iran to stay out of this conflict,” said Biden in the statement.
Some Republicans criticized Biden’s comments. Richard Grenell, Trump’s special presidential envoy for Serbia and Kosovo peace negotiations, said the war is not of interest to the United States. “He will take us to war,” Grenell tweeted. “Joe Biden can’t help himself.”
Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne was in Vienna today for meetings with officials of various international organizations and Austrian leaders to talk about flashpoints in Europe and Azerbaijan.
Champagne arrived in Austria from Greece as part of his week-long tour of European capitals to discuss with allies the tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean, the war between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh and the situation in Belarus and Ukraine.
Champagne held meetings at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
“It’s all about security today — Nagorno-Karabakh, the issue in Belarus, Ukraine obviously,” Champagne said in a brief video posted on his Twitter account.
Day 3 of my European tour. Today, I’m in “>#Vienna, 🇨🇦🇦🇹 OSCE plays an important role in the search for a negotiated solution to the decades-long Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through its Minsk Group mechanism. Champagne said he held meetings at the OSCE with the U.S., Swedish, Albanian and French ambassadors and was also expected to meet with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Schallenberg.
Canada and its NATO and European allies are increasingly worried about the impact of Turkey’s dispute with Greece in the Eastern Mediterranean and Ankara’s involvement in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict — which has the potential to draw the rest of the North Atlantic alliance into a military conflict with Russia in the Southern Caucasus.
Despite diplomatic efforts to stop hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh, fighting between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces continued for the 18th straight day today as both sides exchanged accusations and claims of new attacks over the breakaway Armenian-populated territory.
Nagorno-Karabakh lies inside Azerbaijan but has been under the control of its ethnic Armenian population, which voted in December of 1991 to break away from Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani authorities never recognized the results of the referendum and their attempts to regain the region by force were defeated by local Armenian forces backed by Armenia.
As a result of the war, which ended with a Russian-brokered ceasefire in 1994, Armenian forces also captured seven districts of Azerbaijani territory that are outside of the Armenian-populated region.
The war in the 1990s resulted in nearly 30,000 dead and about 1 million refugees. Russia brokered a truce on Oct. 9 to end the latest round of fighting and allow Armenian and Azerbaijani forces to collect their dead, exchange prisoners and begin negotiations on resolving the decades-long conflict. But it never took hold.
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday, emphasizing the need to respect the truce that was violated immediately after taking effect Saturday.
Putin also voiced concern about the involvement of militants from the Middle East in the conflict — a reference to Turkey deploying pro-Turkish Syrian jihadist fighters against Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Moscow is increasingly concerned about the presence of Syrian jihadist fighters in Azerbaijan, which borders Russia’s restive Dagestan region in the eastern Caucasus Mountains.
Erdogan denied deploying combatants to the region. A Syrian war monitor and Syria-based opposition activists have stated that Turkey has sent hundreds of Syrian opposition fighters to Nagorno-Karabakh.
A damaged icon of the Virgin is seen in the Holy Savior Cathedral, hit by shelling during a military conflict, in Shushi, outside Stepanakert in the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020. (AP)
In a further sign that the conflict is widening, Azerbaijan’s military said it destroyed an Armenian missile system on the territory of Armenia proper that allegedly was positioned to target civilian areas.
Armenia’s Defence Ministry responded by stating that it reserves the right to target Azerbaijani military assets and troop movements.
So far, Armenia and Azerbaijan have denied targeting each other’s territory in the fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh, although both parties often have contested such denials.
An expansion of hostilities beyond Nagorno-Karabakh could trigger a dangerous escalation of the decades-old conflict. Armenia has a mutual defence treaty with Russia, while Turkey, which has one of the largest militaries among NATO countries, has pledged to support Azerbaijan “on the battlefield and around the negotiating table,” in the words of Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
Russia’s defence treaty with Armenia doesn’t apply to Nagorno-Karabakh, but Putin has warned Azerbaijan and Turkey that if the fighting spreads to Armenia proper, Moscow will be forced to defend its ally.
- Armenia and Azerbaijan accuse each other of derailing Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire
- Armenian community mourns Canadian killed in fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh
- Canada suspends exports of military drone technology to Turkey
In a sombre address to the nation on Wednesday, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan admitted that outgunned and outnumbered Armenian forces have suffered setbacks on the battlefield and accused Azerbaijan and Turkey of continuing “Turkey’s genocidal policy” toward Armenians.
Champagne’s next stop is Brussels, where he will meet with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell.
Champagne is also planning to meet Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes before moving on to the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, where he will hold a “mini-summit” with his counterparts from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.