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In a statement on Sunday, Azerbaijan urged the international community to engage constructively in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement process in accordance with the requirements of relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council and the norms and principles of international law, Xinhua news agency reported on Monday.
Additionally, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry on Sunday declared to unilaterally suspend all military operations and response measures in the high-strung disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region with Armenia.
However, the Nagorno-Karabakh defense authorities said that heavy battles were still going on in the northeastern and southeastern directions, denying that the Azerbaijani side had implemented a ceasefire along the contact line in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan on the contact line of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region have reportedly flared up overnight Saturday with the two countries' defense ministries blaming each other for triggering the escalation.
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said 12 Azerbaijani soldiers have been killed in the fighting while the Armenian side confirmed that 18 soldiers died in the conflict.
Peace talks have been held since 1994 when a ceasefire was reached, but there have been occasional minor clashes in the past along the borders and across the volatile frontline of the Karabakh area. The clashes obviously escalated last month.
On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin urged the parties in the conflict to "observe an immediate ceasefire and exercise restraint in order to prevent further casualties," according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari said the military clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia cause “serious concern” for Iran.
“While the region is witnessing devastating activities by extremist groups and is in need of calm and stability, the worrying reports of escalated clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh region have deeply concerned the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the spokesman said on Saturday night.
He then called on the two neighbors to exercise restraint and avoid taking any measures that could exacerbate the situation.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a bitter dispute over the mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh first broke out in 1988, when the region claimed independence from Azerbaijan to join Armenia.
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