EU calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to respect ceasefire

[November 17, 2021]    (Reuters) - The European Union urged Armenia and Azerbaijan on Wednesday to disengage their troops and respect the ceasefire agreed the previous day, after reports that seven Azerbaijani soldiers were killed in border clashes.

Azeri service members carry a giant flag during a procession marking the anniversary of the end of the 2020 military conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh breakaway region, involving Azerbaijan's troops against ethnic Armenian forces, in Baku, Azerbaijan, November 8, 2021. REUTERS/Aziz Karimov

The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, discussed the situation in phone calls with the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Ilham Aliyev and Nikol Pashinyan, and called for urgent de-escalation, according to an EU statement.

The bloc also reiterated its offer to work with both countries to overcome long-running tensions between them.

On Tuesday, they agreed to a ceasefire at their border after Russia urged them to step back from confrontation following the deadliest clash since a war last year over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave that killed at least 6,500 people.

(Reporting by Sabine Siebold; Editing by John Chalmers)

[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.