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UN Security Council to Hold Closed-Door Meeting on Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict
Tuesday

VOA News

   The United Nations Security Council is expected to discuss the
   escalating fighting in the breakaway region of
   Nagorno-KarabakhlaterTuesday.

   Theclosed door meeting was requested by five European nations --
   Britain, Belgium, Estonia, France and Germany -- as the fighting
   intensified Monday between forces of Armenia and Azerbaijan in the
   enclave.

   A spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke to both
   President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Armenian Prime Minister
   NikolPashinianand called for "an immediate stop to the fighting, a
   de-escalation of tension and a return to meaningful negotiations
   without preconditions or delay," according to the Associated Press.

   Officials in Nagorno-Karabakh say 58 soldiers have been killed since
   Sunday, when it says Azerbaijan launched an air and artillery attack.

   The region also reported two civilian deaths. There was no official
   information about any Azeri military casualties.

   Both sides exchanged accusations of using heavy artillery. The Azeri
   defense ministry said Armenian forces were shelling the town of Tartar.

   The fighting has prompted fears that regional powers Russia and Turkey
   could be drawn into the violence. Moscow has a defense alliance with
   Armenia, while Ankara backs Azerbaijan.

   Kremlin spokesman DmitryPeskovcalled Monday for hostilities to
   immediately end and said the situation "is a cause for concern for
   Moscow and other countries."

   Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Armenia's immediate
   withdrawal from the region was the only way to ensure peace.

   The United States called Sunday for the hostilities to end. State
   Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus issued a statement saying the
   U.S. "condemns in the strongest terms this escalation of violence." The
   statement urged both sides to work with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs
   "to return to substantive negotiations as soon as possible."

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