Armenia and Azerbaijan Report New Fighting – A Few Days Before Peace Talks At a Glance: The Most Important Of Tuesday’s Midterm Elections

A few days before the planned peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Washington, both sides accused each other of further provocations at the border. The Armenian Ministry of Defense announced on Monday that Azerbaijani units opened fire at night on the eastern part of the border. There were no casualties. The Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense spoke of small arms attacks by the Armenian units. Baku also claimed no casualties.

Armenian Foreign Ministers Ararat Mirsoyan and Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov met with US Defense Secretary Antony Blinken on Sunday.

A new dimension in years of conflict

Azerbaijan had attacked its neighboring country on September 13. In recent years, there have been repeated armed conflicts between the two states, with Nagorno-Karabakh at the center. In 1990, this region, which is largely inhabited by Armenians, seceded from Azerbaijan. After a war with Azerbaijan, Armenia lost control of much of the territory in 2020.

However, in September, the fighting did not take place in Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan attacked Armenian territory for the first time. Observers therefore spoke of a new dimension. 286 people were killed in fighting in September. They could only be stopped under great pressure from the United Nations, the EU and other actors.

Diplomats believe Azerbaijan’s authoritarian leadership took advantage of Russia’s preoccupation with the war against Ukraine. After the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War, Russia is leading a peacekeeping mission in the region. There is currently a ceasefire, but it seems fragile.

Russia is also trying to negotiate

In addition to the US, Russia is also currently trying to negotiate in the conflict. However, a summit meeting last week brought little progress towards a solution. Russian President Vladimir Putin met Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev on October 31. A peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan is necessary, according to the three top politicians. The Russian government is ready to support the road towards it.

However, there were no concrete proposals on what a peace solution for the two states and for the Armenians in the Azerbaijani region of Nagorno-Karabakh might look like. Nagorno-Karabakh was not even mentioned in the newspaper. In a joint statement, however, it was agreed not to use threats and violence in resolving conflicts. Both states accepted state sovereignty and the borders of the other country, it said.

Russia has traditionally been the protective power of Armenia in the South Caucasus, but also oversaw the 2020 ceasefire agreements for both sides. Azerbaijan is supported by Turkey. ((dpa,AFP,cck ))