> Tensions along the Karabakh “line of contact” rose dramatically on Thursday after Azerbaijani forces reportedly captured a village in Askeran and tried to advance to strategic hills to the west of it. Three Karabakh Armenian soldiers were killed and more than a dozen others were wounded in the area on Friday.
> **The U.S. State Department expressed serious concern over the Azerbaijani troop movements, calling them “irresponsible and unnecessarily provocative.” The French Foreign Ministry similarly urged Baku to withdraw its troops to the positions occupied by them before Thursday.**
>art. 1: The Russian Federation and the Republic of Azerbaijan build their relations on the basis of allied interaction, **mutual respect for independence, state sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of the state borders of the two countries**, as well as adherence to the principles of non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, peaceful settlement of disputes and non-use of force or threat of force.
​
>art. 18: The Russian Federation and the Republic of Azerbaijan join their efforts in **countering and neutralizing the threats of international terrorism, extremism and separatism**, transnational organized crime, illicit trafficking in weapons, narcotic drugs and their precursors, human trafficking and crimes in the field of information and communication technologies, as well as other new security challenges. In this context, the Parties exchange information and closely cooperate in identifying and suppressing the channels for financing this illegal activity.
I’m skeptical, but Russia could sell NK within one night. And they disarmed most Armenian troops there. They have no manpower, nor military power to stop Azerbaijan to takeover the rest of the area in one week time.
3 comments
> Tensions along the Karabakh “line of contact” rose dramatically on Thursday after Azerbaijani forces reportedly captured a village in Askeran and tried to advance to strategic hills to the west of it. Three Karabakh Armenian soldiers were killed and more than a dozen others were wounded in the area on Friday.
> **The U.S. State Department expressed serious concern over the Azerbaijani troop movements, calling them “irresponsible and unnecessarily provocative.” The French Foreign Ministry similarly urged Baku to withdraw its troops to the positions occupied by them before Thursday.**
Bears repeating that both Azerbaijan and Turkey are ranked below Nagorno-Karabakh by [Freedom House](https://freedomhouse.org/explore-the-map?type=fiw&year=2022) with Azerbaijan categorised as *worst of the worst* in its [Global Expansion of Authoritarian Rule report](https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/2022-02/FIW_2022_PDF_Booklet_Digital_Final_Web.pdf).
Aren’t Azerbaijan and Russia allies now?
[https://president.az/en/articles/view/55498](https://president.az/en/articles/view/55498)
>art. 1: The Russian Federation and the Republic of Azerbaijan build their relations on the basis of allied interaction, **mutual respect for independence, state sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of the state borders of the two countries**, as well as adherence to the principles of non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, peaceful settlement of disputes and non-use of force or threat of force.
​
>art. 18: The Russian Federation and the Republic of Azerbaijan join their efforts in **countering and neutralizing the threats of international terrorism, extremism and separatism**, transnational organized crime, illicit trafficking in weapons, narcotic drugs and their precursors, human trafficking and crimes in the field of information and communication technologies, as well as other new security challenges. In this context, the Parties exchange information and closely cooperate in identifying and suppressing the channels for financing this illegal activity.
I’m skeptical, but Russia could sell NK within one night. And they disarmed most Armenian troops there. They have no manpower, nor military power to stop Azerbaijan to takeover the rest of the area in one week time.
Nato should intervine