Nagorno-Karabakh

Armenia and Azerbaijan announced a cease-fire deal Tuesday after six weeks of fighting in the Nagorno-Karabakh region that left at least 1,300 people dead. Under the terms of the agreement, Russia said Tuesday it had begun deploying the nearly 2,000 peacekeepers it is sending to the region for a period of five years. 

A Russian-brokered deal has silenced the guns in Nagorno-Karabakh, the region disputed for decades by Armenia and Azerbaijan. It falls short, however, of a clear, sustainable peace. The parties and foreign stakeholders should work to ensure that the new arrangements have benefits for all concerned.

Azerbaijan and Armenia have both reported fresh fighting in and around the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region, with each side laying blame on the other as hopes for a resumption of cease-fire negotiations between the two sides dwindled.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has warned of possible war crimes in the ongoing fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone. 

Deadly fighting between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces over the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh region has intensified as both sides blame each other for the collapse of a third attempt at a cease-fire.

The UN Secretary-General on Sunday condemned “all attacks on populated areas” in and around the Nagorno-Karabakh zone of conflict, as Armenia and Azerbaijan reportedly accused each other of violating the latest humanitarian ceasefire agreement.

Azerbaijan and Armenia announced Saturday that they had agreed to a new cease-fire beginning at midnight, the second attempt in a week to temper almost three weeks of fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The two leaders "stressed the urgent need for joint efforts to end the bloodshed as soon as possible and move to a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh problem."

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has admitted that his forces have suffered significant casualties in the battle with Azerbaijan for the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.  … A ceasefire brokered by Russia was agreed by the two sides last weekend but has not held.

The United Nations Secretary-General has condemned the continuing escalation of violence in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, reminding all sides of their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure.