Russian deal ends conflict in enclave
RUSSIA yesterday deployed 2,000 peacekeeping troops to the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh after brokering a deal to end six weeks of fierce fighting between Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian forces.
As celebrations began in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku, Armenia’s prime minister Nikol Pashinyan called the agreement ‘incredibly painful both for me and for our people’.
As part of the truce, Azerbaijan will keep gains made in the fighting,
including the enclave’s second city, Shusha. Ethnic Armenian forces must surrender control of a slew of other territories by December 1.
In Baku, drivers sounded horns and crowds cheered and waved the Azeri flag. ‘This deal constitutes Armenia’s capitulation and puts an end to the years-long occupation,’ president Ilham Aliyev said. But some Azeris were wary of the arrival of Russian peacekeeping forces, who dominated the region in Soviet times.
Armenia’s defence ministry said military action had halted and calm had been restored in the territory.
Russian president Vladimir Putin said the deal should pave the way for a lasting political settlement of a conflict that has killed thousands.