⁍ Russian President Vladimir Putin said he hoped that the United States would help Moscow broker a solution to the conflict.

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⁍ Hundreds of people have been killed since fighting flared on Sept. 27.

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⁍ Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said the prospects of reaching a peace settlement were ‘very remote

– More than 2,000 people have been killed in nearly a month of fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenian forces over the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is controlled by ethnic Armenians. Azerbaijan says 63 of its citizens have been killed, while Nagorno-Karabakh says 874 of its military personnel and 37 civilians have been killed since Sept. 27. On Friday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will meet in Washington with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Russian President Vladimir Putin to try to end the fighting, which has raised fears of a wider conflict drawing in Turkey and Russia, Reuters reports. “The prospects of reaching a peace settlement are very remote,” Aliyev said in an interview published Thursday. “Our main objective at these discussions will be to find out whether the Armenian leadership is ready to liberate our territories or not, and if ready, then when,” he said, adding that he would not rule out “cultural autonomy” for Nagorno-Karabakh’s ethnic Armenians.