Armenia, Azerbaijan agree to ceasefire

Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed to a ceasefire during talks between both sides held in Moscow.

The talks which were the first diplomatic contact between the two enemies started on Friday October 9, 2020.

Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said, “They agreed to a ceasefire starting on Saturday to exchange prisoners and bodies of those killed in the conflict between Azeri and ethnic Armenian forces over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.”

“The ceasefire begins at 12pm local time (0800GMT),” he added.

Lavrov, who mediated the negotiations,

announced the ceasefire after 10 hours of talks with his Armenian and Azeri counterparts.

He also said Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to “start talks on the settlement of the conflict.”

Russia’s top diplomat added that International Red Cross Committee would act as an intermediary in the humanitarian operation.

He however did not provide details on the talks but said the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s (OSCE) Minsk Group would mediate.

Armenia’s foreign minister, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, and his Azeri counterpart, Jeyhun Bayramov, did not speak to reporters.