U.S., Russia call to end new Armenia-Azeri conflict

STORY: The governments of Russia, the U.S., and France are all calling for restraint after fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan, on their shared border, has killed at least 49 Armenian troops according to the Armenian government, and raised fear of another full-fledged war in former countries of the Soviet Union.

Footage released by Armenia's defense ministry is said to show Azeri soldiers in an unidentified border area.

Reuters can't independently verify either side's version of events.

Azerbaijan says it was attacked by Armenia and sustained casualties, without giving specific numbers.

Armenia, however, says several towns on the border were shelled early Tuesday morning, and that it responded to what it called a "large-scale provocation."

And in parliament, its prime minister said that Azeri forces had attacked because Azerbaijan didn't want to negotiate over the status of disputed territory, Nagorno-Karabakh, that was at the center of their last war in 2020.

Russia is the main powerbroker in this area and has a military base in Armenia.

But Azerbaijan is backed both militarily and politically by the Turkish government, a NATO member.

The war they fought in 2020 lasted six weeks. Both Washington and Moscow -- already dealing with the Ukraine war - issued statements stating any conflict needed to be resolved diplomatically, although Turkey called for Armenia to, quote, "cease its provocations."

The last conflict was another chapter in decades of hostilities between the countries.

It ended with Azerbaijan making significant territorial gains and Russian peacekeepers deployed to the area.