Armenia, Azerbaijan envoys meet Pompeo

STEPANAKERT, Nagorno-Karabakh -- Heavy fighting raged Friday over Nagorno-Karabakh even as top diplomats from Armenia and Azerbaijan visited Washington for negotiations on settling the neighboring countries' decadeslong conflict.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's met separately with the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan for talks that follow two failed Russian attempts to broker a cease-fire in the worst outbreak of hostilities over the region for more than a quarter-century.

The State Department said Pompeo had emphasized to Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov the need "to end the violence and protect civilians."

"Both must implement a ceasefire and return to substantive negotiations," Pompeo said in a tweet after his talks.

Friday's meetings followed failed Russian-led attempts to broker a truce and lower-profile U.S. intervention to promote an end to the fighting. U.S. officials, including Pompeo's deputy, Stephen Biegun, have appealed for the countries to return to a dialogue over the territory.

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The warring sides accused each other of shelling residential areas Friday. Authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh said the town of Martakert and several villages in the Martuni region were hit by Azerbaijani rockets overnight. Later in the day, they said that Martakert and Martuni were also struck by Azerbaijani warplanes.

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry denied the claim and accused Armenian forces of targeting the Terter, Agdam and Agjabedi regions of Azerbaijan overnight.

Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a war there ended in 1994. The current fighting that started Sept. 27 marks the worst escalation in the conflict since the war's end.

According to Nagorno-Karabakh officials, 927 of their troops have been killed, and more than 30 civilians also have died. Azerbaijan hasn't disclosed its military losses, but says 63 civilians have been killed and 292 have been wounded. Armenia officially isn't engaged in the fighting.

Azerbaijan has accused Armenia of targeting its towns and villages with artillery and missiles, which Armenian authorities have denied.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Moscow's information indicated that the combined death toll from the nearly four weeks of fighting was approaching 5,000, a significantly higher number than officially reported by the warring parties.

Russia, along with the United States, has co-chaired the so-called Minsk Group set up by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to mediate in the conflict.

In his meetings, Pompeo "also stressed the importance of the sides entering substantive negotiations under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to resolve the conflict based on the Helsinki Final Act principles of the non-use or threat of force, territorial integrity, and the equal rights and self-determination of peoples," the State Department said.

Putin said Russia is doing its best to negotiate a lasting truce. He voiced hope that the United States would work cooperatively to help end hostilities and mediate a political settlement.

Information for this article was contributed by Avet Demourian, Aida Sultanova, Vladimir Isachenkov and Matthew Lee of The Associated Press.