Guterres, Blinken, EU calls to de escalate tensions, maximum restraint on Azerbaijan-Armenia border

Anjali Sharma

GG News Bureau

UNITED NATIONS, 14^th September. UN head Antonio Guterres on Tuesday expressed his deep concerns about the reports of renewed fighting along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, in a statement issued by his spokesman Stephane Dujarric in New York.

Mr. Guterres called both sides to take immediate steps to deescalate tensions, exercise maximum restraint and resolve any outstanding issues through dialogue and within existing formats, the statement said. He also urged the Azerbaijan and Armenia party to the conflict to fully implement previously reached agreements, the statement noted. Guterres expressed support to all ongoing mediation efforts in the region, it added. 

 

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken issued a statement stated that the US is deeply concerned about reports of attacks along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, including reported strikes against settlements and civilian infrastructure inside Armenia.

 

He said, “As we have long made clear, there can be no military solution to the conflict.  We urge an end to any military hostilities immediately.”

 

European Union chief diplomat Josep Borrell on Tuesday called for an “immediate cessation” of hostilities and a “return to the negotiation table.”

 

Borrell said in a short statement issued said “Last night’s armed confrontations between Armenia and Azerbaijan is a dangerous escalation that needs to stop,”

 

He added  that Toivo Klaar, the EU’s special representative for the South Caucasus, was being rushed to the region.

 

He added that with no significant EU presence on the ground, it is not in a position to enforce the ceasefire terms.

 

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen signed a memorandum of understanding in August with President Aliyev as part of efforts to gain access to the country’s massive natural gas reserves and help cover for Europe’s reduced supplies coming from Russia.

 

According to the office of President Emmanuel Macron France holds the presidency of the UN Security Council, said it will bring up the topic of clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan at the body’s next meeting and urged both sides to stick to a ceasefire.

 

The escalation of 30 years of conflict and hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan on Tuesday has fuelled fears that a second full-fledged war could break out in Europe’s neighbourhood in addition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

 

Both sides blamed each other for escalation of attacks at the border with Yerevan said it had responded to what it called a “large-scale provocation” by Azerbaijan, while Baku said it was attacked by Armenia and returned fire.

 

Newly outbreak of conflict prompted the US, Russia and Europeans to call for restraint.

 

Armenia’s defence ministry said 49 of its soldiers had been killed along the border, accused Azerbaijan of having used “artillery, mortars, drones and large-calibre rifles” to launch cross-border attacks on positions in and around several towns and villages, including Vardenis, Sotk, Artanish, Ishkhanasar, Goris, Jermuk and Kapan.

 

Yerevan claimed the attacks had targeted both military and civilian infrastructure.

 

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said the attack was caused by the country not wanting to negotiate over the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave that is geographically surrounded by Azerbaijan but mainly populated by ethnic Armenians.

 

“The intensity of hostilities has decreased but attacks on one or two fronts from Azerbaijan continue,” Pashinyan said in a speech to parliament, according to Russian media ITAR TASS.

 

Azerbaijan claimed that the Armenian troops had repeatedly fired on Azerbaijani military positions in the Dashkesan, Kelbajar and Lachin regions after it planted mines and building up stocks of weapons along the border.

 

Armenian leader Pashinyan had a phone conversation with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, and  French President Emmanuel Macron, European Council President Charles Michel and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken right after the clashes broke out.

 

Armenia looks to Moscow for support as the main ally that can guarantee its precarious security through the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organization with Russia operating a military base in Armenia and being a key power broker in the region.

 

Meanwile Turkey is the key supporter and ally of Azerbaijan.

 

Defence ministers of Armenia and Russia spoke on Tuesday and agreed to take steps to stabilise the situation on the border, while Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu held a call with his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov and called for Armenia to “cease its provocations.”

 

In 2020, Russia sent thousands of peacekeepers to the region as part of a deal to end six weeks of hostilities between the sides which claimed over 6,500 lives and saw Azerbaijan make significant territorial gains in and around Nagorno-Karabakh.

 

There was another short outbreak of violence in August when Azerbaijan and pro-Armenian separatists clashed in the contested region.

 

Russian troops had  been redeployed to Ukraine and replaced with young conscripts, local reports stated.

 

CSTO, a Eurasian security organisation that next to Armenia features Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan as members, convened on Tuesday to discuss the recent situation in Karabakh region.

 

According to media reports and officials from both sides said that 49 Armenian, 50 Azerbaijani troops confirmed killed in recent conflict, the deadliest clash between the two south Caucasus neighbors since the second war 2 years ago.

 

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at least 49 of his country’s soldiers were killed in the fighting.

 

Azerbaijan’s defense ministry said in a statement that the country had lost 50 troops.

 

UN Security Council agreed to hold an emergency meeting Wednesday to discuss the issue at the request by Armenia.

 

The intensity of the clashes has subsided but Azerbaijan’s attacks continue, the media reported

Pashinyan told lawmakers that Armenia had appealed to Russia and other allies for help.

 

He spoke after the Russian Foreign Ministry urged Azerbaijan and Armenia to abide “in full” by a 9 a.m. cease-fire that Moscow said it had negotiated between the sides. But that cease-fire appeared not to have held.

 

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters in Washington “What we want to see is the hostilities stop.”

 

“The Russians apparently brokered a cease-fire overnight that was almost immediately broken. Obviously we want to see there be a cease-fire that can stay in effect.”

 

Armenia’s Defense Ministry said Azerbaijani forces shelled towns in southern and central Armenia and also used drones in attacks.

 

Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry denied it started the attacks and Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said earlier Tuesday that the fighting started after Armenian sabotage groups placed landmines on Azerbaijani army supply lines along the border said its forces responded to “large-scale Armenian provocation.”

 

Azerbaijan’s defense and foreign ministers held talks on the crisis with their Turkish counterparts.

 

Turkey helped Azerbaijan to win the 2020 war, two allies signed a defense pact last year as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan moved to strengthen his influence in a region traditionally seen as part of Russia’s backyard.

 

Turkey is “always on the side of Azerbaijan,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Tuesday.

 

Despite the truce that Putin brokered, Azerbaijan and Armenia have to reach a peace agreement, even the two sides have held talks to try to delineate their common border and open up transport routes.

 

Armenia Prime Minister Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met Aug. 31 in Brussels as part of European Union efforts.

 

Aliyev has demanded the establishment of a corridor through southern Armenia to an Azerbaijani exclave bordering Turkey. That’s been rejected by Pashinyan, who’s said the truce accord only provides for the opening of transport links between the two states, which he’s prepared to implement.

 

Pashinyan told lawmakers that “We are not going to provide anyone with a corridor through the territory of Armenia.” “We are ready for a peaceful resolution and have always been ready,” he added.