EU calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to respect ceasefire

FILE PHOTO: Azeri service members carry a giant flag during a procession marking the anniversary of the end of the 2020 military conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh breakaway region, involving Azerbaijan's troops against ethnic Armenian forces, in Baku, Azerbaijan, November 8, 2021. REUTERS/Aziz Karimov

(Reuters) - The European Union urged Armenia and Azerbaijan on Wednesday to disengage their troops and respect the ceasefire agreed the previous day, after reports that seven Azerbaijani soldiers were killed in border clashes.

The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, discussed the situation in phone calls with the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Ilham Aliyev and Nikol Pashinyan, and called for urgent de-escalation, according to an EU statement.