UN urges Azerbaijan, Armenia to avoid ‘disastrous’ full conflict
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on Azerbaijan and Armenia to exercise “maximum restraint” in order to avoid a full conflict that would be “disastrous,” days after a recent flare-up of tensions between the two former Soviet republics.
“The secretary-general is following with deep concern the current tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia. He calls for maximum restraint, as a full conflict between these two countries would be disastrous,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Monday.
Azerbaijan has been engaged in a dispute with Armenia over Karabakh — a territory which broke away from Azerbaijan in a bloody war in the 1990s. Some 30,000 people were killed in the conflict, which ended with a fragile truce in 1994. In 2016, scores were killed in four days of renewed fighting.
Earlier this month, new clashes some 300 kilometers from the mountainous region left at least eleven Azeri soldiers and a civilian and four Armenian troops dead.
Armenia’s Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan blamed Azerbaijan for the latest clashes.
Speaking in an interview with FRANCE 24 that was published on Monday, Mnatsakanyan said his country was committed to enforcing a ceasefire and monitoring mechanism to avoid further clashes.
He insisted that war was not a solution, calling on the international community to help broker a peaceful solution.
Pope Francis calls for peaceful resolution
On Sunday, Pope Francis also called for a peaceful resolution of the conflict.
“I am following with concern the recovery in recent days of armed tensions in the Caucasus region, between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” the Pope said.
“I hope that, with the commitment of the international community and through dialog and the goodwill of the parties, a lasting peaceful solution can be reached, which has at heart the good of those beloved populations,” he added.
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