BAKU/YEREVAN (AZERBAIJAN/ARMENIA) – Russia and France have demanded an immediate ceasefire between Azeri and Armenian forces on Thursday as the fatalities climbed in the clashes in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Moscow said that President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron had held talks about the moves that the Organization for Security and Co-operation’s (OSCE) Minsk group, which is playing the role of mediator in the conflict, could adopt to cease hostilities.
Kremlin also expressed willingness to host the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan for talks to end the clashes which flared on Sunday, reigniting a decades-old conflict over the enclave in the South Caucasus.
According to Azerbaijan’s general prosecutor’s office, Armenian shelling left one civilian dead in the town of Terter on Thursday morning, adding that the railway station suffered heavy damage.
On the other hand, the Armenian defence ministry spokeswoman said the situation still remained tense and Azeri forced tried to regroup, but had been prevented from doing so.
Yerevan said two French nationals working for the Le Monde newspaper in France were wounded in Azeri attacks on the Armenian town of Martuni and had to be hospitalised. They are said to be in a critical condition.
Ankara-based Anadolu Agency revealed footage showing reporters scrambling for shelter behind a wall in Nagorno-Karabakh during Armenian shelling.
Ever since fighting began between both sides on Sunday, dozens have been killed and hundreds wounded in Nagorno-Karabakh.
