The news came as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James O'Brien is scheduled to arrive in Baku on June 27, in what will be his third trip to the South Caucasus in two months.
Belarus delivered advanced weapons to Azerbaijan for years, despite being in a Russia-led security alliance with Armenia, Politico reported on June 13, citing a cache of leaked documents.
Several thousand Russian "peacekeepers" were deployed to Nagorno-Karabakh in the fall of 2020 following another escalation of the years-long Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over the region. The withdrawal began in April.
Russia has begun withdrawing its "peacekeeping" contingent from Nagorno-Karabakh, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed on April 17, according to Russian independent media outlet Meduza.
The demands of the armed men are unknown. Some of the Russian media reports and propagandists claimed the Combat Brotherhood, a nationalist group, was behind the attack.
Armenia is considering applying for membership in the European Union, aiming to strengthen ties with Western countries amid growing tensions with Russia, Armenia's Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan revealed in an interview on March 9.
A Russian "peacekeeping" force has been stationed at Zvartnots Airport since Armenia's independence from the Soviet Union and outbreak of war with neighboring Azerbaijan.
Radar Armenia alleged that the trip to neither country is taking place as Baku canceled Zelensky's visit. The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claim.
President Volodymyr Zelensky may visit Armenia in “the near future,” the Armenian news outlet FactorTV reported on Feb. 23. Preparations for the visit are currently underway, but the exact date has not yet been confirmed, the outlet reported, citing its sources.
"The Collective Security Treaty has not fulfilled its objectives as far as Armenia is concerned, particularly in 2021 and 2022. And we could not let that happen without taking notice," Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Feb. 22.
"Our analysis shows... that Azerbaijan wants to launch military action in some parts of the border with the prospect of turning military escalation into a full-scale war against Armenia," Pashinyan said during a government meeting.
The election, which Aliyev was widely expected to win, was seen as a referendum on the country's victory in September 2023 over Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh after decades of ongoing conflict.
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