⁍ More than 400 people have been killed in the renewed fighting in and around Nagorno-Karabakh that has raised fears of a wider conflict drawing in Turkey and Russia.
⁍ The Armenian government said Friday’s talks would focus on a cessation of hostilities and exchanges of bodies and prisoners of war.
⁍ Turkey, a close ally of Azerbaijan, said Ankara also wanted a diplomatic solution but that peace moves would succeed only if they ensured a withdrawal of Armenian forces from Nagorno-Karabakh.
– France, Russia, and the US are trying to bring an end to the fighting in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan that has killed more than 400 people over the last two weeks. On Friday, the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan were expected to attend talks in Moscow aimed at ending the fighting that began Sept. 27. “We are moving towards a truce soon even if the situation is still fragile,” French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said after he spoke to the Armenian and Azeri leaders, per Reuters. The Armenian government said Friday’s talks would focus on a cessation of hostilities and exchanges of bodies and prisoners of war. Turkey, a close ally of Azerbaijan, said Ankara also wanted a diplomatic solution but that peace moves would succeed only if they ensured a withdrawal of Armenian forces from Nagorno-Karabakh, where fighting broke out on Sept. 27. Nagorno-Karabakh belongs to Azerbaijan under international law but broke away in a war as the Soviet Union collapsed and is populated and governed by ethnic Armenians. “It is almost certain to fail if it doesn’t also involve a detailed plan to end the occupation,” Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin told Al Jazeera. Armenia has ruled out a withdrawal from territory it considers its historic homelands. It has also accused Turkey of military involvement in the conflict and sending in mercenaries, allegations denied by Ankara. Azerbaijan said on Thursday that 31 Azeri civilians had been killed and 164 wounded since Sept. 27.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-armenia-azerbaijan/moscow-talks-lift-nagorno-karabakh-ceasefire-hopes-despite-new-clashes-idUSKBN26U0PZ