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DEVELOPING HISTORY
Nikol Pashinyan announces a “painful” agreement with the presidents of Azerbaijan and Russia to end a weeks-long conflict.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said he signed a “painful” agreement with the presidents of Azerbaijan and Russia to end the war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
His statement in the early hours of Tuesday came hours after ethnic Armenian officials in the disputed region confirmed that Azeri forces had seized the key city of Shusha (known as Shushi in Armenia).
In a Facebook post, Pashinyan said the deal would take effect from 1 a.m. on Tuesday (21:00 GMT Monday), ending six weeks of fierce fighting that has left hundreds dead.
Describing the move as “indescribably painful for me personally and for our people,” Pashinyan said he made the decision as a result of “an in-depth analysis of the military situation” that has seen the Azeri force make significant progress.
He said the agreement was “the best possible solution to the current situation.” No other details were immediately available.
There was no immediate official reaction from Azerbaijan.
A Kremlin spokesman also said that the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia had signed an agreement on a total cessation of military actions on Nagorno-Karabakh, according to Russian news agencies.
Armenian and Azeri forces have been fighting for six weeks in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which is inside Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenians since 1994.
More to follow.
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