Nagorno-Karabakh

Russian peacekeeping forces have initiated their withdrawal from Nagorno-Karabakh following Azerbaijan's reclaiming of the disputed region from Armenian separatists last year, as confirmed by the Kremlin.

Azerbaijan and Armenia will fight out a long-running "ethnic cleansing" dispute at the top United Nations court from Monday, just as military tensions are ramping up between the historic enemies.

Robed lawyers from the two countries embark on two weeks of hearings, wrestling over interpretations of international law in the gilded Peace Palace of the International Court of Justice.

The United States and European Union will continue to support Armenia and ethnic Armenians from the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, leaders from both sides of the Atlantic pledged as they were meeting with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Friday.

Armenia suffered a significant setback last September when Azerbaijani forces swiftly regained control of Nagorno-Karabakh, causing nearly all of the region’s ethnic Armenian population to flee to Armenia

Azerbaijani President İlham Aliyev has said that the decades-long conflict between Baku and Yerevan has finally given way to an unprecedented opportunity for peace that the sides have never had before.

In response to the injury of an Azerbaijani soldier stationed at the border due to gunfire from Armenia, Azerbaijan has carried out a retaliatory fire, with the Armenian Defense Ministry unveiling that its four soldiers were killed.

Tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan have surged once again, with Armenia accusing Azerbaijan of a deadly attack that claimed the lives of two soldiers and left several others injured. This accusation follows a similar claim made by Baku just a day prior, alleging that one of its soldiers had been wounded in a separate incident.

"The Rome Statute, which established the International Criminal Court, officially enters into force for Armenia on February 1," Armenian representative for legal affairs Yeghisheh Kirakosyan told Agency France-Presse.

An Azerbaijan parliamentary commission called Thursday for the expulsion of French companies from the oil-rich country, including energy giant TotalEnergies, in the latest deterioration of relations between Baku and Paris.

Azerbaijan has repeatedly hit out at France for criticising Baku's Karabakh offensive last year, and for plans by Paris officials to help arm neighbouring Armenia.

The United States on Thursday added Azerbaijan to a watchlist on religious freedom, following fears for Christian heritage after the country seized back an important enclave from Armenia.