The OSCE’s chairperson-in-office Ann Linde said on Twitter on November 17 that she had spoken to Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan.
“I welcomed the ceasefire between Armenia and Azerbaijan after Russian mediation and called for de-escalation,” she said, expressing “deep regret” over the loss of life during the November 16 clashes along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
The Swedish diplomat also said that she reiterated support for a continued process through the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and her personal representative.
In another Twitter post Linde said that she had a “good conversation” on November 18 with Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Jeyhun Bayramov “on recent developments in the region.”
“[I] called for continued de-escalation. [I] reiterated support for [the] process through [the] Minsk Group Co-Chairs and my Personal Representative,” she wrote.
Armenia and Azerbaijan announced a Moscow-mediated ceasefire late on Tuesday after nearly six hours of clashes between their armed forces along portions of the border between the two South Caucasus nations.
Yerevan confirmed yesterday that one Armenian soldier was killed in the clashes and 24 others went missing, while 13 servicemen were taken prisoner by Azerbaijan.
In a statement today Armenia’s Defense Ministry said that the body of another Armenian soldier who participated in the Tuesday clashes was transported from Baku to Yerevan yesterday.
Azerbaijan reported that seven of its soldiers were killed and 10 others were wounded in what was the worst fighting between Armenians and Azerbaijanis since last year’s 44-day war over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Armenia’s Defense Ministry today also accused Azerbaijani armed forces of opening sporadic fire in some directions along the northeastern part of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, saying that “the enemy fire was suppressed by retaliatory actions.”
Azerbaijan, for its part, accused Armenia of firing at its military positions in the Tovuz district late on Wednesday, Azerbaijani media wrote, citing the country’s Defense Ministry.