A humanitarian ceasefire will be enforced on Monday morning in the battle between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh mountain enclave.
The announcement was made in a joint statement issued by the US State Department and the two governments on Sunday. In Washington on Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, and a meeting of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, mediated by the conflict, led by France, Russia and the U.S. .
A statement from the Minsk group said: “During their intensive discussions, the co-chairs and the foreign ministers will discuss the immediate implementation of the humanitarian ceasefire, the possible parameters for monitoring the ceasefire and the launch of the basic elements of a comprehensive settlement.”
The humanitarian ceasefire will take effect at 8 a.m. local time.
On Sunday, a new battle broke out between Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian armies as both sides blamed each other for blocking a peaceful settlement of the conflict.
Armenia has accused Azerbaijani forces of firing on civilian settlements. Baku denied killing civilians and said he was ready to implement a ceasefire if the Armenian army withdrew from the battlefield.
The Minsk Group said its co-chairs and foreign ministers agreed to meet again in Geneva on Thursday, “to agree on all the steps needed to reach a peaceful settlement, to discuss, reach an agreement, and begin implementation.” Nagorno-Karabakh conflict ”.
Nagorno-Karabakh is located in Azerbaijan but has been under the control of Armenian-backed ethnic Armenian forces since the 1994 war. The latest fighting, which began on September 27, involved heavy artillery, rockets and drones, killing hundreds in large numbers. Hostility between South Caucasus neighbors for more than a quarter of a century.
