Bergkarabach

On Wednesday, new tensions flared as Azerbaijan said it had lost a soldier and the Karabakh army said two of its troops had been killed and more than a dozen injured. The Azerbaijani defense ministry said Karabakh troops targeted its army positions in the district of Lachin, which is under the supervision of the Russian peacekeeping force.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday offered US assistance in building ties between Armenia and Azerbaijan, encouraging a permanent settlement between the adversaries two years after a Russian-brokered truce.

The foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan held their first bilateral talks since the 2020 war over the status of the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The three-hour talks were held in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, officials said on July 16, although few details of specific issues were released.

Opponents accuse Pashinian not only of bungling the 2020 war with Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, but claim his recent statements on the mainly ethnic-Armenian region indicate that his government is ready to make concessions to reach a formal peace deal with Azerbaijan.

Armenian police have detained dozens of demonstrators calling for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian's resignation because of what they said were unacceptable concessions made by him during negotiations with Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Fresh clashes in and around Nagorno-Karabakh imperil the November 2020 ceasefire monitored by Russian peacekeepers. Even as they square off over Ukraine, Russia, Western powers and Turkey should endeavour to reach a quiet agreement on how to avert escalation in the South Caucasus.

Authorities in self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh have spoken out against the Armenian government for signaling a willingness to make concessions that would allow Azerbaijan to regain control over the territory.

EU leaders brokered the agreement, which will see a joint border commission established. The two countries' leaders met for the third time in six months as tensions continue to flare in the region.

Armenian President Armen Sarkisian has resigned from the largely ceremonial position, citing a lack of power to influence policy during times of national crisis.

Azerbaijan and Armenia reported clashes on their volatile border Tuesday that killed one Azeri soldier and two Armenian troops, in the latest skirmish following a 2020 war between the ex-Soviet rivals.