The armed forces of Azerbaijan have launched a new offensive in the south of Nagorno-Karabakh in the direction of the villages of Khin Taglar and Khtsaberd, the press service of the Armenian Defense Ministry said. The military department noted that the Armenian army is taking retaliatory actions. The press secretary of the Armenian Prime Minister Mane Gevorgyan stated that the Russian peacekeepers should react to the actions of the Azerbaijani army. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev expressed concern about violations of the ceasefire and recommended that Yerevan "not try to start anew" hostilities.
“On December 12, the Azerbaijani side resumed offensive actions in the direction of the settlements of Old Taglar - Khtsaberd of the Artsakh Republic [Nagorno-Karabakh Republic]. The units of the Defense Army are taking retaliatory actions ", - said in the message of the defense department.
The leadership of the Russian peacekeepers is aware of the events taking place in the south of the unrecognized republic, said the press secretary of the Armenian Prime Minister Mane Gevorkian. "The attack of Azerbaijani troops in the direction of Stary Takher - Khtsaberd, first of all, should receive a reaction from the peacekeepers of the Russian Federation," - she wrote on her Facebook page.
On December 12, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met in Baku with the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group from the United States and France, Andrew Shofer and Stefan Visconti. Aliyev said that the day before, illegal armed groups had carried out terrorist acts in Karabakh. “I was informed that yesterday some terrorist acts were committed either by Armenian militants or by the remnants of the so-called Armenian army … I think that Armenia should not try to start anew,” he warned.
Aliyev also stated that Azerbaijan has resolved the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, which lasted almost 30 years, and the Minsk Group "did not play any role in the settlement." The President stressed that he managed to prove that the dispute with Armenia has a military solution.
“I said I have. And history has shown that I was right. I think that everyone who said that "there is no military solution" now understand that it was. They just wanted to keep the status quo - he stressed. - We returned all seven occupied areas. We returned the ancient Azerbaijani city of Shusha, the village of Hadrut, part of Khojavend and others. In fact, we have achieved what we planned. ".
Aliyev also told the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group: “I will end here and listen to you. Because it was your idea to come here. And I can repeat this in front of the cameras: I did not invite the Minsk group to visit. The meeting was also attended by a representative of Russia - Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Azerbaijan Mikhail Bocharnikov.
The bulletin of the Russian Ministry of Defense published on December 12 notes the first violation of the ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh since the introduction of the peacekeeping forces. According to the Russian military, the incident took place on December 11 in the Hadrut region.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed an agreement on the complete cessation of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh on November 9. The Armenian military must leave the unrecognized republic, and Baku gained control over three regions of Karabakh. Also, under the agreement, Russian peacekeepers are stationed in the region. They control the entire line of contact and the Lachin corridor connecting Armenia with the unrecognized republic.
Nagorno-Karabakh is the territory of Azerbaijan, which is predominantly inhabited by ethnic Armenians. Local residents have been in conflict with Azerbaijanis since the late 1980s. After the declaration of independence in 1991, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic declared war on Azerbaijan. The armed conflict lasted until 1994, several tens of thousands of people from both sides were killed. No country in the world has yet recognized Karabakh, including Armenia.
