Armenia Asks Putin for Military Aid in Azerbaijan Border Dispute

Armenia’s acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said he’s asked Russian President Vladimir Putin for military assistance to end a deepening border dispute with Azerbaijan, raising fears of a renewed conflict.

“I appealed to President Putin for assistance to Armenia including military,” after Azerbaijan failed to withdraw an estimated 250 troops from the southern Armenian province of Syunik, Pashinyan told lawnakers in the capital, Yerevan, on Friday. Negotiations with Azerbaijani officials to try to end the standoff would also continue on Saturday, he said.

Azerbaijan denied invading Armenia. Its troops are engaged in a “difficult technical process accompanied by disputes” to demarcate their shared border following last year’s 44-day war, the Foreign Ministry in Baku said in an email.