Parties to the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh announced a cease-fire

Фото: Depositphotos

The armed forces of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan reported a cease-fire in the region, where armed clashes have occurred since the past.

Information about achieving at least a temporary truce was also confirmed at the NKR Defense Ministry, adding that the order was received on April 5 in 12: 00 local time.

Press Secretary of the President of Nagorno-Karabakh David Babayan told reporters that “the situation has stabilized,” but it is necessary to wait for further developments of the situation.

According to the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry, hostilities on the contact line of the Armenian and Azerbaijani troops by agreement ceased on both sides.

In turn, the press secretary of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia Artsrun Hovhannisyan said that a document on the truce was being prepared, stressing that he was not authorized to speak about the details.

According to Interfax from Armenian diplomatic circles, it was possible to reach an agreement on a truce in Nagorno-Karabakh through Russian mediation.

Later appeared messages that Russian President Vladimir Putin had telephone talks with the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia, calling on both sides to respect the truce.

US Secretary of State John Kerry, according to "Voices of America", called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to continue the negotiation process under the auspices of the OSCE.

On the night of April 4-5, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense informed about the destruction of the largest military base of Armenia in the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, and Yerevan accused Baku of using Smerch installations on the territory of the NKR.

The Armenian Ministry of Defense stated that it supports calls for a cessation of hostilities in the Karabakh conflict zone, but for this it is necessary to develop technical conditions for a truce, “to carry out the withdrawal/separation of opposing forces and to develop mechanisms for maintaining the truce regime.”

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, at a meeting with the relatives and friends of the injured servicemen, reportedly expressed Baku’s readiness to resume negotiations on the Karabakh problem.

Both Baku and Yerevan previously reported on their casualties among military personnel. According to various sources, dozens of people from both sides became victims of the shelling.

History of conflict

• The Karabakh conflict, which began more than 100 years ago, is rooted in rivalry over this territory between Armenians who adhere to Christianity and the Muslim influence of the Turkic and Persian peoples.

• After the regional parliament of Nagorno-Karabakh decided to join the Armenian SSR in 1988, the friction led to a surge in violence.

• The ethnic Azerbaijanis, who constituted about a quarter of the population of the region before the war, fled from Karabakh and Armenia, and ethnic Armenians were forced to flee from Azerbaijan.

• In the 1994 year, with the mediation of Moscow, a truce was signed that put an end to active hostilities in the region, but left Karabakh under the control of Armenia.

• The peaceful resolution of the conflict came to a standstill after the talks between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2009, followed by several serious armed incidents at the border.

See also:

Nagorno-Karabakh: Armenia does not believe the authorities of Azerbaijan

Karabakh military conflict: Baku and Yerevan blame each other

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