U.S. steps up efforts to establish ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at a news conference at the State Department in Washington, DC, U.S. October 21, 2020. Nicholas Kamm/Pool via REUTERS

BAKU/YEREVAN/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian forces clashed in several parts of Nagorno-Karabakh on Friday, as the United States stepped up diplomatic efforts to try to end the deadliest fighting in the mountain enclave for over a quarter of a century.

In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met separately with the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia in a new attempt to end nearly a month of bloodshed that Russian President Vladimir Putin said may have killed 5,000 people.