Nagorno-Karabakh: Azerbaijan and Armenia agree on ceasefire

In the troubled Caucasus region of Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia and Azerbaijan have stopped fighting. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said he signed a treaty with Azerbaijan and Russia on Tuesday morning after more than a month of bloodshed to end the military conflict in the region.

The agreement therefore provides for an exchange of prisoners. Both sides should exchange the remains of killed soldiers, refugees should return to their homeland under the supervision of the United Nations. Russian border troops take control of transport links between Karabakh and Armenia. Azerbaijan and Armenia have pledged to freeze their current positions, he said.

A Kremlin spokesman confirmed the news, Russian news agencies reported. The Baku government has also announced the deal. This is “a decisive turning point in the resolution of the conflict”, said President Ilham Aliyev.

Arayik Harutyunyan, regional president of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, wrote on Facebook that he agreed to “end the war as soon as possible”. There will be a joint peacekeeping mission between Turks and Russians. On the Russian side, the soldiers would be deployed in 1960 for a five-year period with the possibility of an extension for another five years. The detachment has already begun.

The Kremlin speaks of a “permanent solution to the crisis”

Russian President Vladimir Putin also announced that he will send peacekeeping troops to the region. However, he did not mention the Turkish participation. He hoped that the agreement to end the war “would create the necessary conditions for a lasting and comprehensive solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis”.

Turkey had supported Azerbaijan in the conflict, while Russia and Armenia maintain a defense alliance.

Hundreds of people have been killed in the fighting in recent weeks and attempts to initiate a ceasefire have failed. Most Christian Armenians live in Nagorno-Karabakh. According to international law, the area belongs to predominantly Islamic Azerbaijan, although it gave up on itself in 1991.