War in the Caucasus – Armenia and Azerbaijan end fighting – thanks to Moscow – News

The leaderships of Armenia and Azerbaijan have apparently agreed to end the fighting.

After more than six weeks of heavy fighting in the South Caucasus Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia and Azerbaijan have decided to end all fighting.

The agreement came about thanks to the mediation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, as announced by the Kremlin in Moscow. Russian peacekeepers are said to be monitoring the ceasefire.

Russian soldiers as guarantors of peace

On Tuesday evening, the Russian Defense Ministry released tapes that were supposed to show the readiness and transport of soldiers by plane to the crisis region.

Azerbaijani head of state Ilham Aliyev said the deployment of peacekeeping forces will initially be limited to five years. However, it could be extended if both Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed. The contingent should therefore be around 2000 soldiers.

The leader of the unrecognized Republic of Karabakh, Araik Arutjunjan, defended the agreement. “Taking into account the difficult situation that has arisen and based on the need to avoid further great human losses and the complete loss of Karabakh, I have given my consent to end the war,” the 46-year-old wrote on Facebook.

The ceasefire went into effect at 1:00 local time.

A long-term solution is sought

According to Putin, the agreement is the basis for a long-term solution to the Karabakh problem. So far there have been three ceasefire attempts. They all failed. But it is the first time that the heads of state and government have signed such an agreement.

Azerbaijani television showed live how Aliyev and Putin signed the documents in parallel. Originally, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was also expected to be present. “Pashinyan refused to sign the declaration, but he will have to do it,” Aliyev later announced in a speech to the nation.

Armenia has practically capitulated

Pashinyan himself spoke of an extremely difficult decision. “The text is painful for me personally and for our people.” However, after careful consideration and analysis of the situation, he decided to sign it, Pashinyan wrote. Observers saw this as a surrender.

The fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh began at the end of September and claimed over 1200 victims. But the conflict itself is decades old. For example, after the collapse of the Soviet Union some 30 years ago, Azerbaijan lost control of the mountainous area with around 145,000 inhabitants.

Since 1994 there has been a fragile ceasefire. Azerbaijan invokes international law in the new war and repeatedly seeks the support of its “brother state”, Turkey. Armenia, in turn, relies on Russia as a protecting power.

Evaluation by SRF Russia correspondent David Nauer

What are the chances that this ceasefire has?

Seems like a solid solution. So, after that, this armistice can actually hold up. Mainly because Russia is sending peacekeepers. This is clearly a factor that should stabilize the situation. However, there are still risks. One of these risks is that many people in Armenia reject this deal because they see it as a kind of surrender. Also, there have been attempts to stop fighting earlier and these attempts have failed every time. So there is still some potential for uncertainty. But this time it seems that the ceasefire could be solid and that this treaty could mean the end of the war.