Top EU Diplomat Mogherini Calls for End to Fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Saturday she was deeply worried by reports of heavy fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh and called for an end to hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

BRUSSELS (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, the OSCE Minsk Group on conflict settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh expressed concern on Saturday over resumed clashes in the contested region.

"I call on the parties to stop the fighting immediately and observe the ceasefire. The sides must show restraint and avoid any further actions or statements that could result in the escalation," she said in a statement.

Mogherini said the European Union deplored the loss of life in the ongoing fighting, specifically civilian deaths, and voiced the bloc’s full support of peace action taken by the OSCE Minsk Group.

On April 2, Armenia and Azerbaijan noted a sharp escalation of the situation in the mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh area, with both sides accusing each other of violating the ceasefire that has been in place since 1994.

The conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh began in 1988, when the Armenian-dominated autonomous region sought to secede from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, before proclaiming independence after the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991. In September 2015, the conflict escalated, with the sides blaming each other for violating the truce.