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The governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to stop the fighting in the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh, reported the Foreign Minister of Russia, Sergei Lavrov, in the early hours of Saturday (10) (local time). The ceasefire between the two parties is scheduled for the next few hours.
At a meeting in Moscow, Armenian and Azerbaijani diplomats cagreed to exchange prisoners of war and return the bodies of the victims of the confrontation. The Russian government, which mediated the negotiation, said it would elaborate on the deal later in the day.
The talks lasted around 10 hours, according to the British broadcaster BBC. The Russian foreign minister said the two countries will now have “substantive dialogues.”
A man sees a house destroyed in clashes between the pro-Armenian army and Azerbaijani forces in Stepanakert, the largest city in Nagorno-Karabakh, this Friday (9) – Photo: AP Photo
Located in the Caucasus, Armenia and Azerbaijan belonged to the Soviet Union (1922-1991). Russia has a military alliance with the Armenians, but currently maintains good relations with the Azerbaijani government and is not interested in a conflict in the region.
According to official accounts, conflict left more than 300 dead. Thousands of people living in the region had to leave their homes: Stepanakert (Khakhendi, in Azeri) and Shushi (Shusha), two of the largest cities in Nagorno-Karabakh, suffered severe damage.
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
A man walks down the street after a recent bombing during the military conflict in the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh region in Stepanakert on Friday (9) – Photo: Reuters
Azerbaijani soldiers and pro-Armenian separatist forces that control Nagorno-Karabakh, a region also known as Artsakh, clashed on September 27. It was the worst series of clashes since the war between 1988 and 1994, when tens of thousands of people died in the territorial dispute.
- KNOW MORE: The old dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Caucasus
The two parties accused each other of the start of hostilities. Azerbaijan is trying to regain control of the region, which is formally in Azerbaijani territory, while Armenia wants to maintain the autonomy status of the area agreed since the 1990s by the countries of the Minsk Group: Russia, the United States and France.
Map of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh – Photo: Alexandre Mauro / G1
Armenia accuses Azerbaijan of attacking civilians and religious buildings. A cathedral was bombed on Thursday, wounding two Russian journalists, according to Armenian officials.
On the one hand, the Armenians argue that they are the ethnic majority and, by self-determination of the peoples, they have the right to control Nagorno-Karabakh. On the other hand, the Azeris understand that they also have that region as part of the historical territory of Azerbaijan.
Learn more about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the VIDEO below
5 points to understand the confrontations between Armenia and Azerbaijan
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