Armenia, Azerbaijan agree to humanitarian truce

Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed to a humanitarian ceasefire from midnight, the foreign ministries of both countries said in separate statements, reports Al Jazeera.

The new agreement was announced following phone calls between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his counterparts. Lavrov strongly urged the countries to abide by a Moscow-brokered that frayed immediately after it took force.

The two sides trade blame for breaching that deal.

“This decision was taken following the statement of the presidents of the French Republic, the Russian Federation and the United States of America, representing the co-chair countries of the OSCE Minsk Group, of October 1, 2020, the Statement by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group of October 5, and in line with the Moscow Statement of October 10,” Armenia’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed to a humanitarian ceasefire from midnight, both countries said on Saturday night.

Moments before agreeing to the ceasefire, Armenia carried out a missile attack on Ganja, the second-biggest city of Azerbaijan, which left 13 civilians dead. The overnight missile raid also wounded dozens of people in their sleep and destroyed a row of homes.