Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 5
Trend:
Russia's President Vladimir Putin phoned to Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev on Apr. 5, the Azerbaijani president's press service reported.
The Russian president once again expressed concern over the latest developments on the frontline and stressed the importance of strengthening the ceasefire.
In turn, President Aliyev said that despite the fact that since the first day Azerbaijan made a statement on the ceasefire, the opposite side continued military operations.
The president added that the ceasefire was restored today, on Apr. 5 afternoon, and the responsibility for its violation lies on the Armenian side.
During the phone talk, the presidents once again expressed their support to the negotiation process within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group.
Presidents of Azerbaijan and Russia once again emphasized the successful development of bilateral relations between the two countries in all the areas.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers.
The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population.
Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. More than 370 Armenian soldiers, 12 tanks, 12 armored vehicles and 15 artillery pieces have been destroyed from April 2 until today.
Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said.
The ministry added that Azerbaijan's armed units are now carrying out fortification work in the retaken areas.