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Also last weekend, the parties reached an agreement on a ceasefire, which was negotiated with the help of Russia. This time it lasted only 12 hours, when both sides were bombarded again.
Later, both countries accused each other of being the first to attack. At least eight people were killed and 33 injured when the clashes flared up again, according to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry on Sunday last week.
The two governments agreed to maintain the new ceasefire, which will take effect at midnight Sunday night, after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke by phone with both sides. Lavrov is said to have urged them to abide by the agreement reached in Moscow last week, according to the AP.
Russia has a security policy pact with Armenia, but has also developed close ties with Azerbaijan.
The conflict between the countries concerns Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous area within the Azerbaijani border that has been controlled by Armenian-backed troops since the last war in the region ended in 1994. The current battle is the bloodiest in 26 years.
Earlier on Saturday, Azerbaijan accused Armenian forces of attacking the country’s second-largest city, Gjandja, with a ballistic missile. The attack killed 13 civilians and wounded 50, according to the Azerbaijani authorities.
The Ministry of Defense of Armenia denies the accusations. The Nagorno-Karabakh separatist authorities published a list of suspected military installations in Gjandja on Saturday, but did not take on the attack.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev condemned the robbery as a war crime and warned Armenian leaders.
“Azerbaijan will give its answer and it will do so only on the battlefield,” Ilham Aliyev said in a televised speech, according to the AP.
Nagorno-Karabakh also came under heavy attack on Saturday night. Three civilians were injured, according to local separatist authorities.
