Putin plays peacemaker between Armenians and Azeris
- 10 years ago
Russian President Vladimir Putin has hosted talks in Sochi between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan, who have been engaged in an escalating two weeks of border clashes.
The fighting has claimed many lives and threatens to restart a war that is only tentatively halted with a ceasefire that has been in force since 1994.
The violence is over Nagorno-Karabach, an Armenian enclave in the heart of Azerbaijan that Armenia seized in a brief and bloody war when the Soviet Union collapsed. There have been sporadic border incidents and clashes ever since, but this flare-up is one of the worst.
The Azeris have been spending a lot of their new oil wealth on beefing up their army, and many are keen to regain the territory and exact revenge.
The fighting has claimed many lives and threatens to restart a war that is only tentatively halted with a ceasefire that has been in force since 1994.
The violence is over Nagorno-Karabach, an Armenian enclave in the heart of Azerbaijan that Armenia seized in a brief and bloody war when the Soviet Union collapsed. There have been sporadic border incidents and clashes ever since, but this flare-up is one of the worst.
The Azeris have been spending a lot of their new oil wealth on beefing up their army, and many are keen to regain the territory and exact revenge.