Fighting Reported in Karabakh

“Everything is under the control of our armed forces,” Davit Babayan, the Karabakh foreign minister said, for his part.

Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry categorically denied any ceasefire violations in or around Karabakh.

Earlier in the evening, Arayik Harutyunyan, the Karabakh president, held what appeared to be an emergency meeting with the Defense Army commander, Kamo Vartanyan, and other security officials.

In what may have been a related development, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan held a phone call with US Assistant Secretary of State Karen Donfried. An Armenian readout of the call made no explicit mention of the reported escalation in Karabakh.

Donfried spoke with Mirzoyan and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov on July 17, the day after their direct talks held in Tbilisi. A week later, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken phoned the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan. Blinken tweeted afterwards that he sees a “historic opportunity to achieve peace in the region.”

Last Thursday, the Armenian side said that Azerbaijani forces opened fire at two villages in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenian army positions on Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan. Baku denied that.