Moscow bolsters truce in Nagorno-Karabakh

MOSCOW－Russia will deploy peacekeepers in the South Caucasus region of Nagorno-Karabakh in a "complete cease-fire" that started on Tuesday, in a deal forged by Azerbaijan and Armenia, said Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Russian leader said in a televised address on Monday that he had signed a trilateral statement with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan declaring a "complete cessation of fire and all hostilities" in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone from midnight on Tuesday Moscow time (5 am Beijing time).

Azerbaijan and Armenia agreed to stop at the positions they have held, Putin said.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan first announced the signing on social media. The Kremlin and Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev confirmed the news later.

"The statement will become a (crucial) point in the settlement of the conflict," Aliyev said in a televised online meeting with Putin.

Aliyev added that Azerbaijan's ally Turkey would be involved in implementing the cease-fire.

Arayik Harutyunyan, the leader of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, said on Facebook that he gave agreement "to end the war as soon as possible".

Russia has started deploying 1,960 peacekeepers to Nagorno-Karabakh, the Defense Ministry confirmed on Tuesday.

The Russian peacekeeping contingent being deployed consists of 90 armored personnel carriers, 380 vehicles and pieces of special equipment, the ministry added. Several Il-76 aircraft carrying the first peacekeepers and their equipment had taken off from an airfield in Russia.

Azerbaijan and Armenia will exchange war prisoners, other detained persons and bodies of the dead, while all economic and transport links in the region will be unblocked, the Russian leader said.

Internally displaced persons and refugees will return to the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and its surrounding areas under the care of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Putin said.

"We presume that the agreements will create the necessary conditions for a long-term and full-format settlement of the crisis around Nagorno-Karabakh on a just basis and in the interests of the Armenian and Azerbaijani peoples," he said.

Wider conflict

Fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh has raised fears of a wider regional conflict, with Turkey supporting Azerbaijan, while Russia has a defense pact with Armenia.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh cease-fire deal by phone on Tuesday, Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman told the Echo Moskvy radio station.

The declaration followed six weeks of heavy fighting and an advance by Azerbaijan's forces. Several thousand people are feared dead in the conflict.

Azerbaijan said on Monday it had seized dozens more settlements in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been at loggerheads over the mountainous region since 1988. Peace talks have been held since 1994 when a cease-fire was reached, but there have been sporadic clashes since.

Xinhua - Agencies