After attack by Azerbaijan: ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh

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According to media reports, a ceasefire was agreed in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone one day after the start of an Azerbaijani military operation.

The authorities of the internationally unrecognized Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) in the South Caucasus have accepted a corresponding proposal from the Russian side, the Armenian news agency Armenpress reported on Wednesday. Although Nagorno-Karabakh is within Azerbaijani territory, the majority of the population is Armenian.

“In the current situation, the measures taken by the international community to end the war and resolve the situation are inadequate,” Armenpress quoted an official statement as saying. “Taking this into account, the authorities of the Republic of Artsakh accept the proposal of the command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent regarding a ceasefire.”

The ceasefire has apparently already started

According to the Russian agency Interfax, the ceasefire has already officially started – at 1 p.m. Armenian time (11 a.m. Swiss time). Accordingly, it is said that it has been agreed that the remaining units of the Armenian army will be withdrawn from Nagorno-Karabakh and that Karabakh fighters will hand over their weapons. It was initially unclear whether this would actually be implemented. There was initially no official confirmation from the Russian side.

Authoritarian-led Azerbaijan launched a broad military operation to capture Nagorno-Karabakh on Tuesday morning. Although the region is within Azerbaijani territory, most of it is inhabited by Armenians. The two former Soviet countries have been fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh for decades. The ceasefire following the last war in 2020, in which Azerbaijan, well-armed thanks to gas and oil revenues, had already conquered large parts of Karabakh, was repeatedly broken.

Russia is traditionally considered Armenia’s protecting power and has stationed its own soldiers in the conflict zone. Now, however, Moscow mainly needs its fighters for its own war of aggression against Ukraine. Observers therefore already feared that Azerbaijan could use this unstable situation for military action. Even before the latest shelling began, the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh was catastrophic as Azerbaijan blocked Armenia’s only access to the exclave – the so-called Lachin corridor. (SDA)

Source: Blick