The Armenian Defense Ministry said that there has only been a significant decrease in the “intensity of shelling” at various sections of the heavily militarized border which began on the night from Monday to Tuesday.
“Using special forces, the enemy has been trying to secure positional advances, notably towards [the villages of] Nerkin Hand, Verin Shorzha, Artanish and Sotk,” said the ministry spokesman, Davit Torosian.
Nerkin Hand is located in Armenia’s southeastern Syunik province while the three other communities are part of Gegharkunik province. Both regions border western Azerbaijan.
Gegharkunik Governor Karen Sargsian confirmed that there has been no letup in “intensive combat” in his region.
“In the morning gunfire stopped for about 40 minutes but then resumed and is still going on,” Sargsian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
He said that the provincial administration helped to evacuate some local residents, mostly children and women, and took others to bomb shelters.
The Defense Ministry accused the Azerbaijani army of deliberately targeting civilian areas. At least one of the Gegharkunik villages, Sotk, was seriously damaged by shelling.
The ceasefire deal announced by the Russian Foreign Ministry was supposed to take effect at 10 a.m. local time. It was not officially confirmed by Armenia or Azerbaijan.
The conflicting sides continued to blame each other for the bloodiest hostilities in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone since the 2020 Armenian-Azerbaijani war. In particular, Yerevan says that Baku is thereby trying to force the Armenian side to make unilateral concessions in peace talks.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia is doing its best to help stop the fighting which left at least 49 Armenian soldiers dead.
The United States and the European Union similarly called for an immediate end to the violence. Senior U.S. and EU officials held a series of phone calls with Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan.
“There is no alternative to peace and stability - and there is no alternative to diplomacy to ensure that,” tweeted European Council President Charles Michel.
Michel announced that the EU’s special envoy to the South Caucasus, Toivo Klaar, will travel to Baku and Yerevan to “work on preventing further escalation.”
Michel has hosted four face-to-face meetings between Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev over the past year. They most recently met in Brussels on August 31. Michel said right after that summit that Aliyev and Pashinian agreed to intensify negotiations on an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty.
Also urging “strict respect for the ceasefire” was French President Emmanuel Macron. He spoke with Pashinian by phone overnight. A statement released by the presidential Elysee Palace also cited Macron as calling for “respect for the territorial integrity of Armenia.”
“France will take the matter to the United Nations Security Council, of which it currently holds the presidency,” added the statement.