During an emergency meeting chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, Armenia’s Security Council decided to ask Moscow to invoke and “put into action” relevant articles of a Russian-Armenian treaty on mutual defense.
It also requested assistance from the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization as well as the UN Security Council.
The appeal followed Pashinian’s phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin during which they discussed heavy fighting that broke out at various sections of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border shortly after midnight. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan also spoke by phone.
The Armenian military accused Azerbaijani forces of shelling its border positions and trying to advance towards Armenian territory “in some directions.” Baku claimed, for its part, that its troops are thwarting cross-border sabotage attacks by Armenian army units. Yerevan strongly denied that claim.
Russia has a military base in Armenia. Some of its troops were redeployed closer to the Armenian-Azerbaijani border following the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The Kremlin did not immediately issue a statement on Putin’s latest conversation with Pashinian.
Putin and Pashinian met last week on the sidelines of an economic forum held in the Russian city of Vladivostok. Speaking at the forum, the Armenian premier warned that Azerbaijan could provoke another escalation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone soon.