UN calls for immediate end of fight between Armenia and Azerbaijan

After deadly clashes broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Armenia-backed breakaway region of Nagorny Karabakh, Antonio Guterres, UN’s Secretary-General on Sunday said he was “extremely concerned over the fresh resumption of hostilities”.

At least 23 people, including civilians, have died after clashes broke out between long-standing rivals, where both sides have accused each other of starting the hostilities. Both sides also reported civilian casualties.

“The Secretary-General strongly calls on the sides to immediately stop fighting, de-escalate tensions and return to meaningful negotiations without delay,” Guterres’s spokesman said in a statement.

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Guterres “condemns the use of force and regrets the loss of life and the toll on the civilian population,” the statement said, adding that the secretary-general would speak to the president of Azerbaijan and the prime minister of Armenia.

In the worst clashes between Muslim Azerbaijan and majority Christian Armenia, since 2016 have raised the specter of a fresh war in the decades-long territorial dispute over Nagorny Karabakh, both sides have threatened to draw in regional powers Russia and Turkey.

Sixteen Armenian separatist fighters were killed and more than 100 wounded in the fighting, rebel officials said.

France, Germany, and the EU swiftly urged an “immediate ceasefire,” while Pope Francis prayed for peace. Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the military flareup with Pashinyan and called for “an end to hostilities.”