Armenia-Azerbaijan

Clashes broke out Sunday along the Armenia-Azerbaijan state border, killing four Armenian and eleven Azerbaijani soldiers, as well as an Azerbaijani civilian. It is the worst and most worrying escalation on this front since 2016, say Crisis Group experts Olesya Vartanyan and Zaur Shiriyev. Along the border, the shooting disrupted what had been a period of calm that afforded residents cautious hope for the future. Now attitudes on both sides have hardened. Leaders should nonetheless keep looking for diplomatic solutions. Most important in the short term is to preserve the communication channel between Yerevan and Baku that can help prevent major new fighting on the border.