Azerbaijan and Armenia have reached a ceasefire agreement on their conflict over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The ceasefire document was signed after trilateral consultations in Moscow involving both countries and Russia.
“A ceasefire is declared to begin on October 10 at 12:00 with the humanitarian aim of exchanging prisoners of war and other captured persons as well as to exchange bodies of victims with the facilitation of the International Committee of the Red Cross and in line with its regulations,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Saturday.
“Detailed parameters of the ceasefire regime will be agreed upon in the near future,” he added.
Both the countries have also agreed to begin talks said a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. “Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia, with the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, based on the basic principles of the settlement, begin substantive negotiations with a view to achieving a peaceful settlement as soon as possible,” reads the statement.
The Russian, Azerbaijani and Armenian Foreign Ministers, Sergey Lavrov, Jeyhun Bayramov and Zohrab Mnatsakanyan respectively, held talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement for more than 10 hours.
Both the former Soviet republics began offensive over Nagorno-Karabakh on September 27, 2020. Previously, the forces from the two countries clashed in the summer of 2014, in April 2016 and this past July.
Azerbaijan has claimed control over 9 Karabakh settlements during the conflict including Gadrut, Chaily, Yuhkary-Guzlek, Gorazili, Gyshlag, Garadjally, Efendilar, Suleymanly and Sur.
Nagorno-Karabakh is a disputed territory that had been part of Azerbaijan before the Soviet Union break-up, but primarily populated by ethnic Armenians. Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region announced its withdrawal from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic in February 1988. The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan began in 1992-1994, for control over the enclave and seven adjacent territories after Azerbaijan lost control of them. Both the countries have been on the discussion table since 1992 under the OSCE Minsk Group, led by its three co-chairs – Russia, France and the United States.