Armenia and Azerbaijan negotiate a ceasefire

• Armenia and Azerbaijan have reached an agreement on a ceasefire.
• They want to put an end to the recent fighting.
• It has claimed 155 lives on both sides.

A top Armenian official claims that Armenia and Azerbaijan have reached an agreement on a ceasefire to put an end to the recent fighting, which has claimed 155 lives on both sides.

The cease-fire was declared in televised statements by Armen Grigoryan, the secretary of Armenia’s Security Council, who stated that it had begun hours earlier, at 8 p.m. local time (16:00 p.m. GMT), on Wednesday. An earlier truce that Russia mediated on Tuesday was short-lived.

A few hours before to Grigoryan’s declaration, the Armenian Defense Ministry reported that bombardment had ceased but made no mention of a truce.

Regarding the deal, Azerbaijan remained silent.

The proclamation of a cease-fire came after two days of intense fighting, which was the worst outburst of hostility between the two old rivals in almost two years.

In Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, thousands of protestors flocked to the streets late on Wednesday, accusing Nikol Pashinyan of betraying his people by trying to pacify Azerbaijan and calling for his resignation.

Authorities in Armenia and Azerbaijan alternately claimed responsibility for the hostilities, with the former charging Baku with unprovoked aggression and the latter claiming that Azerbaijan was retaliating for Armenian shelling.

Since fighting broke out early on Tuesday, 105 soldiers from Pashinyan’s homeland have died, while 50 soldiers from Azerbaijan have perished. Authorities in Azerbaijan declared that they were prepared to deliver up to 100 Armenian troops’ bodies unilaterally.

The ex-Soviet nations have been at odds over Nagorno-Karabakh for decades; although it is a part of Azerbaijan, it has been ruled by ethnic Armenian forces supported by Armenia since the end of a separatist war there in 1994.

Azerbaijan recaptured significant portions of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding territory held by Armenian forces during a six-week conflict in 2020.

Over 6,700 individuals lost their lives in the conflict, which was resolved by a peace agreement mediated by Russia. In accordance with that arrangement, Moscow sent roughly 2,000 troops to the area to act as peacekeepers.

The truce was largely the consequence of Russian diplomatic efforts, according to Grigory Karasin, a senior member of Russia’s upper house of parliament, who spoke to the Russian state news agency RIA.

He said that President Vladimir Putin had spoken with Pashinyan and urged restraint.

According to Pashinyan, as part of a friendship agreement between the two nations, his government has asked Russia for military aid and has also urged the Collective Security Treaty Organization for support.

Pashinyan stated that “our allies are Russia and the CSTO,” adding that the agreement’s collective security clause specifies that an attack on one member is an attack on all members.

Speaking in his country’s parliament, Pashinyan stated, “We don’t consider military intervention as the sole choice since there are also political and diplomatic possibilities.”

In a future peace accord, he said, Armenia is prepared to recognize Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity as long as it cedes control of the territories inside Armenia that its soldiers have annexed.

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