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The city of Stepanakert, the regional capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, controlled by Armenian separatists, was bombed tonight, despite a theoretical truce since morning.
Seven loud explosions were heard around 11.30pm local time, shaking the whole city. Soon after, sirens sounded for several minutes, urging residents to go to basements and shelters.
Then silence returned to the city that plunged into total darkness.
The bombings occurred despite the truce between Armenia and Azerbaijan., which in theory came into force after negotiations and under the auspices of Russia after two weeks of fierce fighting for the Nagorno-Karabakh autonomous region.
The warring parties today accused each other of violating this ceasefire on the front lines, but the situation remained unusually calm today in Stepanakert, which was regularly shelled for two weeks.
After all, according to a senior Azeri official, the calm that prevailed during the day is only “temporary”: “it is a humanitarian truce for the exchange of bodies and detainees, it is not a real truce”, stating that Baku “has not intended to backtrack “in their efforts to regain control of the area.
At the time of the ceasefire announcement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, however, that the two camps were engaged in “substantive negotiations to quickly reach a peaceful solution” to the conflict mediated by three co-presidents (France, Russia, United United). OSCE Minsk.
These negotiations must “be repeated unconditionally”, insisted the representative of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Anne von der Mill.
Today, Vladimir Putin had a phone conversation with Iranian President Hassan Rohani about Russia’s mediation efforts, according to the Kremlin.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) also welcomed the ceasefire and said it was ready to facilitate the exchange of detainees and the bodies of victims.
The truce is “an important first step, but it will not replace a permanent solution,” said Turkish diplomats, a key Baku supporter. According to Ankara, Azerbaijan gave “the last chance for Armenia to withdraw from the territories it has occupied” and “showed Armenia and the world that it can regain its land.”
The fear is that this conflict will not internationalize in an area where Russians, Turks, Iranians and Westerners have interests. Especially as Ankara encourages Baku to continue the attack and Moscow is bound by a military treaty with Yerevan.
Turkey is accused of actively participating in hostilities with Azerbaijan, which Ankara denies. There are many reports of pro-Turkish fighters from Syria sent there to fight.
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