YEREVAN, Feb 14, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Arch-foes Armenia and Azerbaijan accused
each other Tuesday of opening fire on their volatile border, with Yerevan
saying Azerbaijani forces killed four of its soldiers as Russia and the
United States urged restraint.

Yerevan and Baku had fought two wars -- in 2020 and in the 1990s -- over the
disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region before Azerbaijan recaptured in a lightning
offensive last September.

The deaths on Tuesday came several days after the reelection of Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev, who has held power for two decades in the oil-rich
Caspian country.

"Four were killed and one injured as a result of fire on Armenian positions
from Azerbaijani troops," the Armenian defence ministry said in a statement.

The fighting occurred near the village of Nerkin Hand in the southern region
of Siunik.

Azerbaijan's border guards said the action was a "riposte" to a "provocation"
on Monday by Armenian troops that Baku said had injured one Azerbaijani
soldier.

The Armenian foreign ministry accused Baku of "constantly trying to thwart
efforts of parties interested in the stability and security of the South
Causus" and called for a "return to (peace) talks."

- Calls for restraint -

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell slammed Baku's actions.

"The Armenian shooting of the Azerbaijani soldiers yesterday was deplorable.
But Azerbaijan's response today seems disproportionate," Borrell said in a
statement to the press.

Russia -- which used to be the main mediator of the conflict but has in
recent years been distracted by its Ukraine invasion -- urged calm and called
the violence "worrying".

"We call on both sides to show restraint to avoid any acts that the opposite
side could see as provocative," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Armenia has distanced itself from its historic ally Russia since Azerbaijan's
offensive, with Yerevan angry that Moscow's peacekeeping force in Karabakh
did not act during Azerbaijan's takeover.

The United States, which had brought together the two sides for talks before
Azerbaijan's military triumph in September, said the latest violence
undermined diplomatic efforts.

"The only way to a sustainable peace is at the negotiating table. Any
ceasefire violations should be investigated and properly addressed," State
Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.

Baku has denied any territorial claims to Armenia after having regained
Karabakh and ruled out a fresh conflict with Yerevan.

But Aliyev is suspected of trying to wrest control over Armenia's Siunik
region to link Azerbaijan to the exclave of Nakhchivan, which is also
bordered by Iran and Turkey.

Aliyev's election win last week was all but guaranteed after his country's
historic victory over Armenian separatists last year.

The internationally mediated peace talks have so far failed to produce a
breakthrough between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan last month proposed a non-aggression
pact, pending a comprehensive peace treaty between the neighbours.

Pashinyan and Aliyev had previously said a peace agreement could have been
signed by the end of last year.

Almost the entire ethnic-Armenian population of Karabakh -- more than 100,000
people -- fled for Armenia following Baku's takeover, sparking a refugee
crisis.