Large-Scale War Between Azerbaijan And Armenia Flared Up Again

For the second day in a row, Azerbaijani armed forces are bombing the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian enclave within Azerbaijani territory. Artillery duels are turning entire city blocks into ruins on both sides. People are running. According to Karabakh authorities, fierce firefights along the entire line of contact have killed more than 20 people and injured more than 100 soldiers and civilians.

The world is calling on Azerbaijan and Armenia to ensure that these two former Soviet republics in the Transcaucasus cease their armed clashes immediately. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on the phone to seek clarification from Yerevan regarding the recent escalation of tensions. Russia called for an immediate end to the bloodshed. The same warning came from the European Union, while France, traditionally very close to Armenia, demanded an urgent convening of the UN Security Council. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an “immediate cessation” of the fighting. “The Secretary-General calls in the strongest terms for an immediate cessation of hostilities, de-escalation, and stricter compliance with the 2020 ceasefire and the principles of international humanitarian law,” his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Antonio Tajani held two separate meetings in New York with Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov and of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan to ask for an immediate ceasefire, but most importantly to offer both sides Italian mediation.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a historical ally of Azerbaijan, said in a speech to the UN General Assembly that “Karabakh is part of the territory of Azerbaijan and the imposition of any other status in the region will never be accepted.”

The truce lasted about three years, and now the military front has reopened on the southern borders of Russia, which has nearly 2,000 peacekeepers in Karabakh after reaching a ceasefire that temporarily ended the war between Baku and Yerevan in autumn of 2020.