Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: Putin, Armenian PM discuss worsening situation

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held a third phone call in six days amid the worsening situation in the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Kremlin said on October 2. The leaders reportedly discussed the ongoing armed conflict and expressed serious concern over the involvement of militants of “illegal armed units from the Middle East.”

“Vladimir Putin again emphasized the need to immediately stop the hostilities and resume political and diplomatic efforts to settle the conflict in line with the Statement made by the...co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group,” the Kremlin said in a statement.

The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Russia, France, and the US) had earlier released a statement, condemning the continued violence in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone. They expressed alarm at reports of increasing civilian casualties and said that targeting or threatening civilians is “never acceptable under any circumstances.” 

The co-chairs stressed that participation in the escalating violence by external parties undermines efforts to achieve lasting peace in the region. They reiterated their call for an immediate cessation of hostilities and the resumption of substantive negotiations, in good faith and without preconditions. 

“The Co-Chairs also call urgently for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire to enable the repatriation of remains of fallen servicemen in coordination with the OSCE and ICRC,” the statement read.

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Decades-old stand-off

The two former Soviet states are in an armed stand-off for years over the Nagorno-Karabakh, a landlocked region in the South Caucasus, and heavy clashes re-erupted on September 27, prompting fears of an all-out war. Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognised as a part of Azerbaijan but it remains disputed because the region is controlled by ethnic Armenians. 

Azerbaijan has declared martial law in border areas and Armenia has declared it across the country and mobilised its male population after the situation escalated in the disputed region. Armenia has even accused Turkey of meddling in the conflict by sending thousands of mercenaries from Syria, a claim swiftly rejected by Ankara.

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