Bergkarabach

French President Emmanuel Macron has urged Azerbaijan to withdraw its troops from “the sovereign territory of Armenia" after a series of recent border incidents between the two South Caucasus countries heightened regional tensions. … In a statement on May 28, the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group -- France, Russia, and the United States -- said “the use or threat of force to resolve border disputes is not acceptable.”

Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry said on Thursday that six Armenian servicemen were detained as they attempted to cross the border.

Russia says it has proposed setting up a joint commission to demarcate the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, amid renewed Yerevan-Baku tensions over the past week over an alleged Azerbaijani military incursion.

Armenia has formally appealed to the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to hold consultations on its border dispute with Azerbaijan that has emerged months after the two countries ended a war over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Azerbaijani forces advanced more than three kilometers and crossed Armenia’s border, Yerevan said.

Russia’s military occupied two new sites in the south of Armenia near the Azeri border as an “additional security guarantee” following last year’s conflict, Russian news agencies reported, citing Armenia’s acting prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan.

Armenia has accused Azerbaijan of violating a key term of the Russian-brokered cease-fire deal that ended last fall’s fighting over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region, alleging that Baku is reneging on a pledge to free Armenian soldiers and civilians captured during the conflict.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is calling on Russia to stop denying entry to foreign reporters in the South Caucasus disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, and is urging the United Nations and Council of Europe to ensure respect for the right to the freedom to inform.

This Brief analyses to what extent the ceasefire agreement has provided the ground for a lasting, stable and sustainable settlement.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has agreed to hold early general elections in June in an effort to defuse a political crisis sparked by the war with Azerbaijan over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region.