Moscow, Sept. 13, (dpa/GNA) - Fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region of the South Caucasus flared up again on Monday night.
Azerbaijani troops attacked Armenian positions in three places with artillery and high-calibre weapons, according to Russian news agency reports that cited the Armenian defence ministry.
The Azerbaijani defence ministry in Baku meanwhile claimed that a large-scale Armenian sabotage attempt had triggered the fighting.
“The entire responsibility for the situation lies with the military-political leadership of Armenia,” the ministry said.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday and the two agreed to remain in contact, Armenia’s government said. Russia has previously brokered ceasefires between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Media in Yerevan also reported that Pashinyan had updated French President Emmanuel Macron about the situation.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in conflict for decades over Nagorno-Karabakh, which has historically had a majority Armenian population, but was legally part of Azerbaijan under Soviet rule.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Nagorno-Karabakh claimed independence from Baku as the Republic of Artsakh, backed by Yerevan, sparking a three-year war.
The war ended in 1994, with Armenia victorious, and Nagorno-Karabkah was for a quarter of a century under effective Armenian control, though its status was never internationally recognised.
After decades of stalemate, Azerbaijan suddenly recaptured large parts of Nagorno-Karabakh in a 2020 military campaign, forcing Armenia to make major territorial concessions. These included a stipulation limiting Armenian access to the region to one safe corridor monitored by Russian peacekeepers.
The ceasefire has been broken several times by both times since then, however.
GNA