Steps needed to deescalate border situation, Armenia tells U.S.

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and U.S. assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs Karen Donfried discussed the situation on the border in a phone call Tuesday, January 11.

Three Armenian soldiers – Artur Mkhitaryan, Rudik Gharibyan (both born in 2002) and Vahan Babayan (b. 2003) – were killed in Azerbaijan's latest provocation on January 11, the Defense Ministry has said. Two other servicemen were injured in fighting.

According to a statement from the Foreign Ministry, Mirzoyan briefed Donfried on recent days’ ceasefire violations by the Azerbaijani armed forces and stressed the need for steps to de-escalate the situation.

The two also weighed in on the possible normalization of relations between Yerevan and Ankara, stressed the importance of achieving a peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the release of all Armenian prisoners of war still being held in Azerbaijan, as well as the situation in Kazakhstan.