Azerbaijan sets its conditions. The country launched a new military offensive on Tuesday September 19 in Nagorno-Karabakh, three years old after a war which resulted in a military rout of Armenia. LAzerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, in a phone call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday, said “that anti-terrorist measures will be stopped if (Armenian separatists) lay down their arms and are disarmed”. Follow our live stream.
>> Nagorno-Karabakh: what we know about the clashes on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan
The UN calls for an “immediate end to the fighting”. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calls for “de-escalation and [le] stricter compliance with the 2020 ceasefire and the principles of international humanitarian law”declared its spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric in a press release.
At least 29 dead. Since Tuesday, the fighting left at least 29 dead. Separatists reported 27 deaths, including two civilians, and more than 200 injured, while around 7,000 residents of 16 localities were evacuated. Azerbaijan reported that two civilians had died in areas under its control. Separatists say several towns in Nagorno-Karabakh, including its capital Stepanakert, are targeted by “intensive shooting”which also target civil infrastructure.
A “large-scale attack”. Armenia denounced this offensive carried out for the purposes of “ethnic cleansing”. She assured that she had no troops in Nagorno-Karabakh, suggesting that the separatists were alone against Azerbaijani soldiers. Yerevan considers that it is up to Russia, guarantor of a ceasefire dating from 2020 with peace forces on the ground, to act to “stop Azerbaijani aggression”.
Moscow calls for an end to the fighting. Russia called on Wednesday to “immediately cease the bloodshed, bring an end to hostilities and stop civilian casualties” In the region. Moscow is demanding a return to the agreements negotiated under its aegis which resulted in a ceasefire in 2020, but not a peace agreement.