The fighting broke out on Monday night and practically stopped two days later after a ceasefire agreed by the two sides.
During separate phone calls with Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Emmanuel Macron of France, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said that although the ceasefire is largely holding, the situation at the border remains “very tense.”
“We are receiving reports that the fragile ceasefire is under threat,” the Armenian ambassador to the UN, Mher Margarian, told the Security Council meeting.
“There are credible reports that Azerbaijan is planning yet another military offensive by widening the geography of the aggression, including from the direction of Nakhichevan, to realize the unlawful ambitions towards establishing an extraterritorial corridor through the sovereign territory of Armenia,” he said.
Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan claimed on Wednesday that opening of such a corridor connecting Azerbaijan to its Nakhichevan exclave is one of the key aims of the Azerbaijani “aggression.” He reiterated that Yerevan can only agree to conventional transport links between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The corridor sought by Baku would pass through Syunik, the only Armenian province bordering Iran. Iranian leaders regularly voice strong opposition to its creation, fearing a loss of the common border with Armenia,
Speaking with his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov on Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian reportedly stressed that “Iran’s border with Armenia is a historical route that must be preserved without any change.”
During the Security Council meeting, the U.S., Russian and French diplomats called on Armenian and Azerbaijani troops to pull back to border positions occupied by them before the outbreak of such hostilities.
Russia’s UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzya said Moscow is making major efforts to ensure such troop disengagement and cement the shaky ceasefire.
“Like others, the United States welcomes the cessation of all hostilities and encourages both parties to continue to exercise restraint,” said U.S. Ambassador Richard Mills. “Military forces should disengage to allow both parties to resolve all outstanding issues through peaceful negotiations.”
For his part, France’s Nicolas de Riviere urged Azerbaijan to “pull back troops to initial positions.” “The territorial integrity of Armenia must be preserved,” he said.
Azerbaijan’s ambassador to the UN, Yashar Aliyev, rejected the Armenian accusations and blamed Yerevan for the escalation.