STEPANAKERT (ArmInfo.am)—The Artsakh Defense Army reports that on Jan. 25, Azerbaijani armed forces broke the ceasefire on the Artsakh border some 800 times.

 

Azeri troops fired an estimated 1,400 shots at Armenian combat positions with various weapons, including anti-tank rockets and grenade launchers.

The Artsakh Defense Army told ArmInfo that due to retaliatory measures taken by Armenian troops, Azerbaijan lost three solders, while two more Azeri soldiers were wounded.

According to the Defense Army, since the beginning of 2015, as a result of Azerbaijan’s provocations, 26 Azeri soldiers have died. Over that period, Armenia has lost 10 soldiers.

Meanwhile, ahead of a meeting with Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group James Warlick said that progress is necessary in the Karabakh conflict settlement process.

“Traveling to Poland to meet with the Azerbaijan Foreign Minister to discuss the ceasefire and next steps. Progress is necessary,” Warlick wrote on Twitter.

The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs will meet with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov in Krakow.

At the same time, the U.S. Embassy in Armenia voiced its concern over the escalating violence in the Karabakh conflict zone, saying, “The only path to a lasting peace is through negotiations.”

“We are very alarmed by reported incursions across the Line of Contact, which have resulted in casualties,” a statement from the U.S. Embassy said. “The use of violence violates the sides’ commitment to a peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and threatens to destabilize the situation along the Line of Contact and the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. The only path to a lasting peace is through negotiations, and we call on the sides to enter into a negotiation process that can bring about a lasting settlement. We hope the people of Armenia and Azerbaijan will raise their voices to say they have seen enough death and suffering, and the time has come for peace.”