‘No military solution’ to ongoing Armenia-Azerbaijan dispute: State Department

The U.S. is joining global calls for a ceasefire as deadly clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh continue.

The State Department on Monday said that Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun spoke separately with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jehun Bayramov and Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan “to express deep concern over reports of the escalation of military action and expanding theater of operations in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.”

“There is no military solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” Mr. Biegun said, according to the department.

His conversations come hours after Armenia accused Azerbaijan of launching missiles into the disputed territory, while Azerbaijan said Armenian forces have attacked densely populated civilian areas.

The long-frozen Eastern European conflict has exploded into a hot war in recent weeks, with clashes killing dozens of people and threatening to drag nearby Turkey and Russia into a direct military confrontation.

Mr. Biegun called on both sides to immediately agree to a ceasefire and begin peace negotiations “to find a durable resolution to the conflict.”