Putin accused Azerbaijan of violating the ceasefire agreement in Nagorny Karabakh by entering the area controlled by the Russian mission

“Violating the provisions of a trilateral statement by the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia of November 9, 2020, the Azerbaijani armed forces entered the area of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh between 24 and 25 March 2020 and established an observation post”, denounced the Russian Ministry of Defense in a statement. The statement added that Turkish-made drones were used to attack Karabakh troops near the village of Farukh, also known as Parukh.

Baku denied the accusations, said it “regretted the unilateral statement of the Russian Ministry of Defense, which does not reflect the truth,” adding that “Azerbaijan did not violate a single provision” of the ceasefire agreement.

Incidents between the armed forces of Azerbaijan and Armenia have been frequent in recent months, but Saturday's announcement marked the first time since the end of hostilities over Karabakh in November 2020 that Moscow accused one of the parties of violating the uncomfortable ceasefire.

Moscow denounced the outbreak on the 31st day of the Russian military campaign in Ukraine, with indications that both sides were entrenching themselves for a protracted conflict in the pro-western country. In this context, experts believe that Azerbaijan could be taking advantage of the weakness of Russian troops due to pressure in the invasion to enter the area where the Russian mission is supposed to rule.

The Kremlin said on Saturday that President Vladimir Putin had discussed the situation with Armenian leader Nikol Pashinyan twice, Friday and Thursday, and that in an official statement he urged Azerbaijan to withdraw troops. “An appeal has been sent to the Azerbaijani side to withdraw its troops,” said the Ministry of Defense. “The command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent is taking steps to resolve the situation,” he added.

In 2020, Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a long-disputed war for the enclave, which claimed more than 6,500 lives. A ceasefire agreement negotiated by Putin caused Yerevan to cede swathes of territory and Russia to deploy a peacekeeping contingent in the mountainous region.

This Saturday, in addition, the Ministry of Defense of the split region stated in a statement that Azerbaijani drones had killed three people and injured 15 others.

“The Azerbaijani armed forces continue to remain in the village of Parukh,” the statement added. Armenia called on the international community to prevent attempts to “destabilize the situation in the South Caucasus”. “We also hope that the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh will take concrete and visible measures to resolve the situation and prevent further casualties and hostilities,” the Armenian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Yerevan stated that the strategically important “invasion” of Parukh “was preceded by constant shelling of Armenian settlements and civilian infrastructure.”

The Armenian Foreign Ministry declared earlier this week that Azerbaijani troops entered the village of Parukh on Thursday - under the control of the Russian peacekeepers - in what they considered “a clear violation of the ceasefire agreement.”

Armenia has also warned of a possible “humanitarian catastrophe” in Karabakh after gas supplies to the disputed region were cut off following repair works. Yerevan has accused Azerbaijan of deliberately leaving the ethnic Armenian population of Karabakh without natural gas, an accusation rejected by the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs as “unfounded”.

Ethnic Armenian separatists from Nagorny Karabakh separated from Azerbaijan when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, and the ensuing conflict claimed some 30,000 lives.

With information from AFP

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