Armenia and Azerbaijan agree to cease-fire after border clash, Armenian Defense Ministry says
That conflict ended after Russia, which has a military base in Armenia, brokered a peace deal and deployed nearly 2,000 peacekeepers to the region. Turkey sided with Azerbaijan, which regained the lands it lost in an earlier conflict.
“According to the agreement brokered by the Russian side, fire has ceased on the eastern part of the Armenia-Azeri border and the situation is relatively stable,” the Armenian Defense Ministry said.
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Earlier, on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan discussed by phone the border situation, the Kremlin said.
The Interfax news agency reported that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu also spoke by phone with the defense ministers of Armenia and Azeri.
The Armenian Defense Ministry said its troops were attacked by Azerbaijan and 12 of its soldiers were captured, while two fighting positions near the border with Azerbaijan were lost.
Eduard Aghajanian, head of the Armenian parliament’s foreign affairs committee, said 15 Armenian soldiers were killed.
The Azeri Defense Ministry said it responded to large-scale “provocations” after Armenian forces shelled Azeri army positions, and its own operation was successful.
The French Foreign Ministry said it was very concerned about the deteriorating situation and called on both countries to respect the ceasefire.