Armenia and Azerbaijan have accused each other of a shootout along their border before the two countries were to attend US-mediated peace talks. The shootout occurred hours before the meeting in Washington D.C. where Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov will discuss another round of peace talks. 

The European Union and the United States hae taken a larger role in mediating the Armenia-Azerbaijan talks after Moscow has been isolated due to its invasion of Ukraine. The tensions on the border occurred a week after Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted the diplomats to broker a peace deal. In the early hours of Monday, Azerbaijani forces opened fire on Armenian positions in the eastern sector of the border. There were no casualties and the situation was mostly stable on Monday morning. The defense ministry of Azerbaijan accused Armenian forces of shooting first.

Read More: Armenia, Azerbaijan trade blame for shootout before US talks