Russia said Sunday that Azerbaijan had pulled back troops from a Karabakh village following talks after Moscow accused Baku of violating a ceasefire.
“The Azerbaijani side carried out the withdrawal of its units from near the settlement of Farukh,” the Russian defense ministry said in a statement.
The ministry also said Azerbaijan’s troops had twice violated a ceasefire in the Askeran region of the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, and four people had been wounded as a result of a shootout.
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“In cooperation with representatives of the parties to the conflict, the command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent has stabilized the situation,” the statement said.
There was no immediate comment from Azerbaijan.
On Saturday, Moscow accused Azerbaijan of violating a ceasefire agreement by entering the Russian peacekeeping mission’s zone in Karabakh.
In 2020, Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a war over the long-contested enclave which claimed more than 6,500 lives.
A ceasefire deal brokered by Russian President Vladimir Putin saw Yerevan cede swathes of territory, with Russia deploying a peacekeeping contingent to the mountainous region.
The village of Farukh, also known as Parukh, is under control of Russia’s peacekeepers.
On Saturday, Azerbaijan’s defense ministry said it “regretted the one-sided statement of Russia’s defense ministry, which does not reflect the truth,” adding that “Azerbaijan didn’t violate a single provision” of the ceasefire agreement.
A new flare-up in tensions came a month after Putin sent troops to pro-Western Ukraine, with signs indicating that both sides were digging in for a protracted conflict.
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