Russia Says Azerbaijan-Armenia Cease-Fire Still Not Holding

(Bloomberg) -- Russia conceded a three-day-old truce it brokered between Azerbaijan and Armenia isn’t holding yet, as the two warring sides traded accusations of responsibility for fresh clashes in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

“We see that these agreements so far aren’t being fully implemented and fighting is continuing,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday in Moscow at the start of talks with his Armenian counterpart Zohrab Mnatsakanyan. Russia will press the countries to respect the cease-fire, he said.

Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said it’s responding to Armenian attacks to the east and south of the disputed territory. Azerbaijan is conducting “offensive operations in different directions of the front line” and Armenian forces are taking “proportionate steps to prevent them,” Vahram Poghosyan, presidential spokesman for the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, said on Facebook.

The worst fighting in decades over Nagorno-Karabakh is continuing even after Lavrov held marathon talks with his counterparts from the two former Soviet republics in Moscow, leading to the agreement on a cease-fire from noon local time on Saturday. The accord sought to allow the sides to exchange prisoners and recover bodies of those killed in fighting that erupted Sept. 27, as well as to commit them to a resumption of negotiations.

Since then, Azerbaijan said at least nine civilians were killed and 34 others were injured when Ganca, the country’s second-largest city, was bombed early Sunday by Armenians. Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh officials denied firing toward Ganca, while saying two civilians were killed in the city of Hadrut.

In all, 25 civilians and 426 Armenian servicemen have been killed in Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia’s Defense Ministry said. At least 41 Azerbaijani civilians have died, according to the Prosecutor-General’s office in Baku. Azerbaijan hasn’t released any figures on its military losses.

Lavrov’s talks with Armenia’s top diplomat are part of international efforts to halt the fighting. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov met mediators in Geneva last week.

Armenians took control of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts of Azerbaijan during a war amid the collapse of the Soviet Union that was halted by a Russia-brokered truce in 1994. Mediation efforts since then by Russia, France and the U.S. have failed to resolve the conflict.

Azerbaijan says it’s fighting to regain control of land that’s internationally recognized as part of its territory. Armenia says it’s defending Nagorno-Karabakh’s right to self-determination after the Armenian majority declared independence.

Turkey, which has backed Azerbaijan in the conflict, should have a big role in the region, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said Sunday, the Interfax news service reported.

Armenia has accused Turkey of involvement in the fighting and of funneling extremists from Syria to join the combat on Azerbaijan’s side. Ankara and Baku deny the allegation.

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