Geneva — The presidents of the United States, Russia and France issued a rare joint statement on Thursday calling for an immediate ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh, as the heaviest fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces in a quarter of a century stretched into a fifth day with no sign of abating.
Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron — leaders of the three countries that co-chair the OSCE Minsk Group, the body’s long-dormant format for settling the conflict — condemned in the strongest terms the escalation of violence along the line of contact and beyond, and called on the sides to resume substantive negotiations without preconditions.
The statement is notable less for what it demands than for who signed it. Washington, Moscow and Paris agree on little these days, and their ability to produce a common text within days of the outbreak testifies to how seriously the three capitals take the risk of a wider war between Armenia and Azerbaijan — one that could pull in Turkey, which has openly backed Baku, and Russia, which has a defence pact with Yerevan.
The fighting, which erupted on 27 September, is the worst since the 1994 ceasefire that froze the conflict without resolving it. Both sides claim to have inflicted heavy casualties; both accuse the other of shelling civilian areas, including Stepanakert and towns well outside the disputed territory. Confirmed figures are scarce, but each capital already speaks of hundreds of dead.
The OSCE itself is largely a spectator in its own process. Its small monitoring presence on the ground ended years ago, and the Minsk Group co-chairs have not held a meeting of the parties in over a year. The joint statement urges the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan to come to the table — but offers no new mechanism, no deadline and no consequences.
What the statement does restore is the principle that this conflict belongs to a multilateral format, not to whichever regional power moves fastest. Whether Ankara and Moscow honour that principle, and whether Baku — sensing a rare military opportunity — will pause while it is winning, are questions the three presidents left politely unanswered.
Media-Society.com is a press network association based in Spain, founded in 2020. More at www.media-society.com.
