The Russian Defense Ministry says Azerbaijani armed forces entered a zone policed by Russian peacekeepers in the Nagorno-Karabakh region in violation of a Moscow-brokered cease-fire agreement that ended a six-week war in 2020.
The Defense Ministry in Moscow also accused Azerbaijani troops of using Turkish-made drones to strike troops in Nagorno-Karabakh, while the Russian Foreign Ministryexpressed "extreme concern" over the spiraling tensions in the region.
Russia also said it had called on Azerbaijan to pull out its troops and called on the parties to the conflict to show restraint and ensure compliance with the agreements reached by Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia.
The announcement was the first time since the end of the hostilities over Karabakh in November 2020 that Moscow has accused one of the parties of violating the cease-fire.
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry described Russia's statement as "one-sided," saying it “does not reflect the truth."
On the morning of March 26 “members of illegal Armenian armed groups attempted to sabotage units of the Azerbaijani Army,” the ministry said. “As a result of immediate measures, members of illegal Armenian armed groups were forced to withdraw."
The ministry requests that Russia "fully withdraw the remaining Armenian troops and illegal armed units from the internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan."
It reiterated Azerbaijan's commitment to the cease-fire it signed with Armenia and Russia in November 2020 to end the military conflict in which Azerbaijan recaptured territory it had lost in a war fought in the early 1990s.
The two countries' defense ministers discussed the situation in the enclave and the "Azerbaijani side stated that it is clarifying the positions and deployment locations of its armed forces" on the ground, the ministry in Baku said.
The command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent is also taking measures to resolve the situation and return the troops to their original position, the Russian military said.
Moscow deployed almost 2,000 peacekeepers to the region after the cease-fire, reaffirming its role as chief power broker in a volatile part of the former Soviet Union where Turkey also wields influence through its alliance with Azerbaijan.
SEE ALSO: Report Warns Of 'Fragile' Prospects For Postwar Nagorno-KarabakhIncidents between the armed forces of arch enemies Azerbaijan and Armenia have been frequent in recent months, and on March 25 three ethnic Armenian soldiers were reportedly killed and several more wounded in clashes with Azerbaijani troops.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian discussed the latest escalation in Nagorno-Karabakh with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Pashinian’s press office said that the two leaders discussed “the situation created after the invasion by Azerbaijani units into the zone of responsibility of the peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation in Nagorno-Karabakh.”
On March 26, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Putin and Pashinian had held two phone calls on March 24 and March 25.
"The situation on the contact line in Karabakh was discussed," Peskov told reporters.
“Prime Minister Pashinian raised the need to investigate the actions of Russian peacekeepers in the given situation and stressed that it is necessary that Russian peacekeepers demand that Azerbaijani armed forces withdraw to their initial positions,” the transcript of the phone call released by the Armenian side said.
“The leaders of the two countries agreed to make efforts to resolve the crisis situation in Nagorno-Karabakh,” it added.
The war between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2020 claimed more than 6,500 lives.