Russia urges restraint after shootout near Nagorno-Karabakh

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia says its forces have helped end a weekend clash between Azerbaijani soldiers and police of Nagorno-Karabakh, urging all parties to show restraint. Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a separatist war in 1994. In 2020 fighting, Azerbaijan took back a significant part of Nagorno-Karabakh and reclaimed nearby areas which had been in Armenian hands for nearly two decades. The Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday that its troops patrolling the region as peacekeepers under the 2020 Moscow-brokered deal moved quickly to halt the weekend clash. It said three Nagorno-Karabakh police officers were killed and added that two Azerbaijani troops also died in the shootout.