Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Armenia and Azerbaijan had agreed on a ceasefire, which began on Saturday to exchange prisoners and bodies killed in clashes between Azeri and ethnic Armenian forces over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Talks between the two sides took place in Moscow on September 27 after hundreds of people were killed after fighting on a broken-down scatterbrain and the first diplomatic contact between the enemies. Ceasefire local time starts at 12 noon (0800GMT).
Lavrov, who mediated the talks in Moscow, announced a ceasefire after 10 hours of talks with his Armenian and Azeri counterparts. He also said that Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed to start talks on a solution to the conflict.
During the ceasefire – mediated by the International Committee of the Red Cross – the parties will exchange bodies and prisoners, Lavrov said in a statement.
“The concrete parameters of the ceasefire will be agreed upon separately,” the statement said.
Russia’s top diplomat also said that Armenia and Azerbaijan had agreed to begin searching for a lasting solution to the territorial dispute.
“Azerbaijan and Armenia will start talks as soon as possible with the aim of bringing about a peaceful settlement,” Lavrov told reporters, adding that such talks would be mediated by the international organization of Europe’s OSCE (MSC). Negotiations.
Armenia’s foreign minister, Johrab Mantsakanyan, and his Azeri counterpart, Jehun Byaramov, did not speak to reporters.
Under international law the mountain has the imprint of Azerbaijan, but it collapsed in the war after the collapse of the Soviet Union and is run by the population and the people of the army.
Turkey, a close ally of Azerbaijan, and Russia, which has a defense pact with Armenia, are expected to wage a comprehensive war in the decades-old conflict.
The collision has also raised concerns about the safety of the pipelines that carry Azeri oil and gas to Europe.
The war was the worst since the 1991-94 war in which nearly 30,000 people were killed and the ceasefire ended which has been repeatedly violated. Both sides accused each other of targeting residential areas and civic infrastructure.
Early Sunday, September 27, Armenia announced that it was declaring martial law, mobilizing its forces and ordering asylum for civilians. He claimed that his neighbor Azerbaijan had launched a military operation inside the broken territory called Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan said it attacked in response to Armenian shelling.
Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally known as the territory of Azerbaijan but consists mostly of Armenians who have resisted Azerbaijani rule for more than a century. The territory of about 150,000 people declared independence in 1991 and has since ruled itself – with Armenian support – as a recognized republic of Artzak.
The formation of a mountainous, landlocked region, Nagorno-Karabakh, within the borders of Azerbaijan, has already been the subject of controversy. Tensions eased when Armenia and Azerbaijan were both Soviet states, but re-emerged as the Cold War ended and the Communist Party lost control of the bloc.
The war between the Armenian and Azerbaijani armies ended in 1994, with Armenia having complete control over the Nargono-Karabakh and other surrounding splinters in Azerbaijan’s territory. Azerbaijan is predominantly Muslim and Armenia is predominantly Christian, and some elements on both sides want to portray the conflict religiously.
Michael Safi
Azerbaijan said on Friday that 31 Azeri civilians had been killed and 168 wounded since September 27. He did not disclose information on military casualties.
Nagorno-Karabakh said 376 of its military personnel and 22 civilians had been killed since the conflict began.
The capital, Nagorno-Karabakh, came under heavy fire. Residents lived in shelters, some of which were in the basement of the apartment building.
Armenian officials alleged that Turkey was involved in the conflict and was sending Syrian mercenaries to fight on the side of Azerbaijan. Turkey has publicly supported Azerbaijan in the conflict but has refused to send fighters to the region.
Turkey said on Friday that efforts by France, the United States and Russia to end violence between Azeri and Armenian forces over Nagorno-Karabakh would fail unless they promised to withdraw Armenian forces from the enclave.
.
