New clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh
- Azerbaijan claims it has taken control of several strategic areas in the disputed region, in a flare-up that threatens a brittle ceasefire with Armenia
- Russia has vowed to ‘stabilise’ the situation, while the European Union has urged an immediate cessation of hostilities
New tensions erupted over Nagorno-Karabakh as three soldiers were killed and Azerbaijan said it had taken control of several strategic heights in the disputed region.
The escalation drew immediate international reaction, with Russia accusing Baku of violating the brittle ceasefire and the European Union urging an “immediate cessation of hostilities”.
Arch enemies Armenia and Azerbaijan fought two wars – in 2020 and in the 1990s – over Azerbaijan’s Armenian-populated region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Armenia ceded swathes of territory it had controlled for decades, and Russia deployed some 2,000 peacekeepers to oversee the fragile truce, but tensions persist despite a ceasefire agreement.
On Wednesday, new tensions erupted as Azerbaijan said it had lost a soldier and the Karabakh army said two of its troops had been killed and more than a dozen injured.
The Azerbaijani defence ministry said Karabakh troops targeted its army positions in the district of Lachin, which is under the supervision of the Russian peacekeeping force, killing an Azerbaijani conscript.