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The fighting killed at least one Azerbaijani soldier, the country’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
Armenia’s foreign ministry also said the clashes had resulted in “casualties and injuries”, but did not specify how many or which side they were on. He also called on the world to intervene to stop “Azerbaijan’s aggressive behavior and actions”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russia was “concerned,” Reuters reported.
“We are watching very closely, of course we are concerned about the worsening of the situation,” he said on Thursday. “We ask the parties to show restraint and most importantly to implement all the provisions of the tripartite documents.”
Both sides have accused the other of attacks on military positions in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Russia, a security ally of Armenia, maintains a peacekeeping force in the region after brokering a ceasefire agreement in early November 2020, ending a nearly two-month conflict that has killed at least 6,500 people, according to Reuters.
The Russian Defense Ministry also accused Azerbaijani forces on Wednesday of violating the ceasefire, Russian state news agency TASS reported.
“The command of the Russian peacekeeping corps, together with representatives of the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides, are taking measures to stabilize the situation,” the ministry said in a statement, according to TASS.
On Wednesday, the European Union called for an immediate end to hostilities.
“It is important to de-escalate, fully respect the ceasefire and return to the negotiating table to seek negotiated solutions,” an EU spokesman said in a statement.
Nagorno-Karabakh is inhabited and controlled by ethnic Armenians and assisted by the Armenian diaspora.
It lies within Azerbaijan’s territory and is connected to Armenia by a costly highway known as the Lachin Corridor, where Wednesday’s clashes took place.
Azerbaijan has long claimed to retake the territory, which is internationally recognized as Azerbaijan. Control over the region has become a point of nationalist pride in both countries.
The turmoil in Nagorno-Karabakh dates back to the collapse of the Soviet Union, when the region, with the support of Armenia, declared independence from Azerbaijan.
With additional reporting from Reuters.
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