Development story
Nikol Pashinyan announced a “painful” agreement with the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Russia to end the weeks-long conflict.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said he signed a “painful” agreement with the presidents of Azerbaijan and Russia to end the war in Nagorno Karabakh.
His announcement in the early hours of Tuesday came hours after officials of Armenian origin in the disputed region confirmed that the main city of Shusha (known as Shushi in Armenia) had been captured by Azerbaijani forces.
In an influential Facebook post, Pashinyan said the agreement would take effect from 1 a.m. on Tuesday (21:00 GMT on Monday), ending six weeks of heavy fighting that left hundreds of dead.
Pashinyan described the decision as “indescribably painful to me personally and for our people,” and said that it was taken after “an in-depth analysis of the military situation”, which saw the Azerbaijani forces making great gains and approaching Stepanakert, the main area in the region. City.
He said the agreement is “the best possible solution to the current situation.” No further details were immediately available.
There was no immediate official response from Azerbaijan.
A Kremlin spokesman said that the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed an agreement on a complete cessation of military operations in Nagorno Karabakh, according to Russian news agencies.
Armenian and Azerbaijani forces have been fighting for six weeks in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which is located inside Azerbaijan, but has been under Armenian control since 1994.
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