Consultations between Azerbaijan and Armenia after renewed tensions
Armenia and Azerbaijan today started talks to deal with the heightened tensions. Armenia accused Azerbaijan of invading its territory, something Azerbaijan immediately denied.
The Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinian confirmed this afternoon that talks were ongoing but that they have not yielded anything for the time being. “We have to be prepared for the worst, to defend our territory,” he added.
In turn, Azerbaijani Secretary of State Djeyhoun Bairamov met with a representative of the US State Department. Bairamov stated that he was pursuing “a normalization of the situation” and confirmed that talks were ongoing.
Armenian Prime Minister, Nikol Pasjinian, had announced during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin that he would refer the matter to the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the successor to the Warsaw Pact that ensures the security of Russia and five former states of the Soviet Union, including Armenia. Putin, in turn, called on both countries to respect the November truce.
On Thursday, Armenia accused Azerbaijan of violating its territory by trying to take control of a southern lake. Azerbaijan denied the news and said it had only deployed border guards on its territory.
In the fall of 2020, the conflict over the controversial Nagorno-Karabakh region flared up again. In six weeks, 6,000 people were killed, and Azerbaijan succeeded in retaking large parts of the territory. Despite the ceasefire, tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan remain high.
