Yerevan and Baku agree to talks. The Armenian cathedral in Shusha is hit

The foreign ministers of the two countries have been invited to Moscow. The Minsk Group and the OECD meet with Azerbaijan’s foreign minister in Geneva. Shusha Cathedral, a historic religious monument, was hit twice by shelling. The death toll stands at 300-400 deaths.

Yerevan (AsiaNews) – The Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers have been invited to Moscow for talks to end fighting in Nagorno Karabakh.

This morning, Azerbaijan confirmed that its Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov will travel to Moscow this weekend. The Kremlin had already invited Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan.

Meanwhile, the co-chairs of the Minsk Group and the Organisation for Cooperation and Security in Europe (OECD) are expected to meet with the Azerbaijani foreign minister in Geneva. The two groups have been trying for years to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in the autonomous Armenian region.

The situation on the ground remains strained. Yesterday the capital of the separatist region, Stepanakert, was bombed. Some areas in Azerbaijan have suffered the same fate.

In Shusha, 15 km from Stepanakert, the cathedral, a historic religious monument, was hit twice by artillery shells. No casualties were reported, some journalists were hurt, but the building was heavily damaged with a section of the roof collapsed, windows blown out, and pews knocked over.

Rebuilt in the 1990s after the first Nagorno-Karabakh War, Shusha's Ghazanchetsots (Holy Saviour) Cathedral has become a symbol of Armenian renaissance. Azerbaijan has denied that its forces shelled the sacred building. Instead, Baku has accused the separatists of targeting civilian areas in Azerbaijan.

Since the start of hostilities, the official death toll has reached 300-400, including at least 50 civilians. However, the number is incomplete since Azerbaijan does not report its military losses. Both Azerbaijan and Armenia have claimed to have killed thousands of enemy soldiers.

• armenia
• azerbaijan
• russia
• minsk group
• oecd
• nagorno-karabakh
• fighting
• shusha cathedral
• stepanakert