n this regard, Blinken called for de-escalation, while stressing that Washington is closely following the renewed clashes in the region, State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.

French President Emmanuel Macron also asked his Azeri counterpart during a telephone conversation on Friday to "do everything possible to avoid an increase in tension" and to push forward negotiations with the Armenian government.

For his part, the U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Michael Carpenter, has previously urged to take "urgent measures to de-escalate the tension and avoid an escalation" of the conflict.

Earlier on Friday, Armenian authorities accused Azeri forces of violating the cease-fire on the Nagorno-Karabakh contact line, the Defense Ministry of the self-proclaimed republic said in a statement.

The alert by the Armenian authorities comes after two Armenian and one Azeri soldiers were killed in clashes near the region on August 3. In addition, 19 other soldiers were wounded, three of whom are in serious condition.