Armenia Says Cease-Fire Deal Reached With Azerbaijan
About 100 troops killed in latest chapter of long dispute over separatist Nagorno-Karabakh region
An Armenian official said Wednesday that Armenia and Azerbaijan had negotiated a cease-fire after blaming each other for clashes along their border. Armen Grigoryan, the secretary of Armenia's Security Council, said in televised remarks that the truce had taken effect. There was no immediate comment from Azerbaijan about a cease-fire agreement. The U.N. Security Council is due to discuss the situation Thursday in a session requested by Armenia. Armenia's Defense Ministry said Wednesday that Azerbaijani forces launched combat drones in the direction of the Armenian resort town of Jermuk overnight and renewed shelling with artillery and mortars in the morning, again targeting Jermuk, along with the village of Verin Shorzha. Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani military charged that Armenian forces shelled its positions in the Kalbajar and Lachin districts of Azerbaijan, near the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh region. Armenia said at least 49 of its soldiers have been killed in the fighting that erupted early Tuesday, while Azerbaijan said it has lost 50 troops. The two countries, former Soviet republics, have fought for decades over Nagorno-Karabakh. The region is part of Azerbaijan, but ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia have controlled it since a separatist war there ended in 1994. In a six-week war in 2020, Azerbaijan reclaimed broad swaths of Nagorno-Karabakh, with the fighting ending in a Russia-brokered peace deal.