Russian President Vladimir Putin invited the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, engaged in deadly fighting for the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, for negotiations on Friday October 9 in Moscow, the Kremlin announced. Thursday evening.

"On October 9, the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia are invited to Moscow for consultations" with the mediation of Russian diplomacy, the Kremlin said in a statement.

"The President of Russia calls for an end to the fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh for humanitarian reasons, with a view to exchanging the bodies of the dead and the prisoners", adds the Kremlin which specifies that Vladimir Poutine had discussions with the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.

There was no immediate reaction from Yerevan and Baku and it was not clear whether the two foreign chiefs of the two countries had accepted Moscow's invitation. 

At least 300 dead

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Ceyhun Bayramov was in Geneva on Thursday to meet with the OSCE Minsk Group (Russia, France, United States), in charge of international mediation in this more than 30-year-old conflict. years.

Nothing leaked from this meeting.

The head of Armenian diplomacy was to be received Monday in Moscow by his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov. 

Since September 27, Armenian separatists from the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh republic and Azerbaijani forces have once again clashed in this mountainous region.

The official death toll is 300 to 400, including around fifty civilians.

It is however very partial and could be much higher, with each side claiming to have eliminated thousands of enemy soldiers.

The fighting continued on Thursday.

The capital of the separatist territory, Stepanakert, as well as inhabited areas in Azerbaijan were also struck again during the day, according to local authorities.

A cathedral hit by gunfire

In Choucha, about fifteen kilometers south of Stepanakert, the cathedral was twice hit by gunfire.

While the first bombardment did not claim any casualties, Russian and local journalists were injured during the second, including one seriously.

The cathedral had already been rebuilt in the 1990s after the first Nagorno-Karabakh war, which made it a symbol for the Armenians.

The Azerbaijani army denied having fired on the building, claiming not to target "historical, cultural and especially religious buildings and monuments".

Azerbaijan, on the other hand, accused the separatists of having "fired on inhabited areas" of its territory.

Two civilians were killed in these strikes, Baku said, but, as since the start of hostilities, many residents still reject any idea of ​​leaving.

According to the separatist authorities, half of the 140,000 inhabitants of Nagorno-Karabakh have already been displaced by these clashes which have lasted for 12 days.

With AFP

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