Home ›› 01 Oct 2020 ›› World Biz
Azerbaijani and Armenian forces have defied calls for a truce in a disputed region of the southern Caucasus, where fighting has escalated in recent days.
On Thursday, Russia and France called for a ceasefire in the Nagorno-Karabakh region amid the worst flare-up in violence there in decades.
But heavy shelling persisted and explosions were reported in the region's main city overnight.
Officially part of Azerbaijan, the area is governed by ethnic Armenians.
The two former Soviet republics fought a war in 1988-94 over the territory. Although Armenia backs the self-declared republic it has never officially recognised it.
It is unclear what caused the renewed fighting, which broke out on Sunday and is the heaviest since the 1994 ceasefire.
Dozens of people have been killed with hundreds wounded, and there are growing fears international powers could be dragged into the conflict.
What's the latest?
French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on Thursday and discussed the need for urgent de-escalation in the region.
"[They] agreed on the need for a joint effort to reach a ceasefire," President Macron's office said in a statement shortly after the telephone call.
"[We] called on the warring sides to halt fire completely and as soon as possible, de-escalate tensions and show maximum restraint," a statement from the Kremlin said.
Russia has also offered to host the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan for talks.
Russia is part of a military alliance with Armenia and has a military base in the country. However, it also has close ties to the government of Azerbaijan.
After Mr Macron and Mr Putin held talks, the Kremlin issued a statement saying they had discussed future steps that the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) could take to help resolve the conflict.
The Minsk Group was set up in 1992 and is chaired by France, Russia and the US.
Both leaders expressed a "readiness" to see a statement made on behalf of the group that would call for an "immediate" end to the fighting and the initiation of peace talks.
Mr Macron's office also expressed "concern" over reports that Syrian mercenaries had been transported to Azerbaijan by Turkish security companies.
One fighter told BBC Arabic earlier this week that he was recruited in northern Syria and sent via Turkey to fight in the conflict. Abdullah - not his real name - said he was sent to Nagorno-Karabakh "wearing Azerbaijani uniforms" soon after the fighting broke out.
But Turkey has disputed that claim, and an adviser to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan dismissed the report as "completely unfounded". Azerbaijan's ambassador to the United States has also denied reports of Turkish involvement.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that about 900 Syrian mercenaries have been transported to Azerbaijan by Turkish security companies. But they add that Armenian-born fighters in Syria have also been transported to Armenia to join the fight.
Source: BBC
