Armenia and Azerbaijan Announce Ceasefire Agreement

YEREVAN (Civilnet) — Armenia and Azerbaijan have reached a ceasefire agreement from 8 pm local time on Wednesday through “the mediation of the international community,” the Secretary of Armenia’s Security Council Armen Grigoryan announced in an interview with Public TV.

“It would not be possible to have a ceasefire without an agreement. Let’s hope that Azerbaijan will continue to observe it,” said Grigoryan.

Armenia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement Wednesday evening that “since 8 p.m., gunfire has almost ceased in all directions (and) no significant incidents have been recorded.”

Lengthy sections of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border have seen intense shelling since shortly after midnight Tuesday, when Azerbaijan began launching strikes on a number of towns and villages in Armenia’s east and south.

Pashinyan said Wednesday afternoon 105 Armenian soldiers had been killed in action so far, while at least 2,570 Armenian civilians have been displaced from their homes in the fighting, according to Kristinne Grigoryan, Armenia’s Human Rights Defender.

Azerbaijan continues to put its combat losses at 42 soldiers and eight border guards.

The death toll means this week has been the bloodiest in the region since the outbreak of the war in and around Karabakh nearly two years ago, while fighting within Armenia proper marks an unprecedented escalation in hostilities.

As the Yerevan protest gained momentum the Armenian Defense Ministry said that fighting on the border all but stopped at 8 p.m. local time. The secretary of Armenia’s Security Council, Armen Grigorian, announced shortly after midnight that Baku and Yerevan have agreed a new ceasefire deal brokered by the international community.