US urges Armenia, Azerbaijan to immediate cessation of hostilities
By Sabina Mammadli
US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried has said that America expects an immediate cessation of the hostilities and compliance with the ceasefire, Azernews reports, citing Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry.
Donfried made the remarks during a phone conversation with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov on September 14.
During the conversation, Bayramov informed his American colleague about the ongoing tension in the areas along the Azerbaijani-Armenian border, noting the serious concern of Azerbaijan about the current situation.
He emphasized that despite the ceasefire reached on September 13, Armenia continued to attack the Azerbaijani positions in violation of the agreement, resulting in the latter's servicemen being killed.
Further, Bayramov noted that Azerbaijan only responded to Armenia's attacks and hit military targets. He stressed the importance for Armenia to unconditionally observe the ceasefire, refrain from provocations and resolve problems through negotiations.
He added that Azerbaijan is interested in the process of normalizing relations with Armenia at the political and diplomatic levels.
In turn, Donfried expressed concern about the growing tension in the region. She stressed that it is important to ensure stability and continue the process of normalizing relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported that during the night of September 13, units of the Armenian armed forces committed large-scale provocations in the Dashkasan, Kalbajar, and Lachin directions of the Azerbaijani-Armenian state border. As a result, there were losses among the military personnel and military infrastructure sustained damage.
Units of the Azerbaijan Army deployed in these directions took decisive retaliatory measures in order to suppress provocations committed by the Armenian armed forces and military threats to the territory and sovereignty of Azerbaijan, to ensure the safety of the military personnel, including civilian workers involved in infrastructure work in territories of Kalbajar and Lachin districts.
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