Armenia, Azerbaijan agree on cease-fire in Nagorno-Karabakh

Armenia and Azerbaijan say they have agreed to a cease-fire in Nagorno-Karbakh starting at noon Saturday

Armenia Azerbaijan (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Armenia and Azerbaijan say they have agreed to a cease-fire in Nagorno-Karbakh starting at noon on Saturday.

Top diplomats from the two countries said in a statement that the truce is intended to exchange prisoners and recover the dead, adding that specific details will be agreed on later.

The announcement follows 10 hours of talks in Moscow sponsored by Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov. Mr Lavrov said the ceasefire should pave way for talks on settling the conflict.

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

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

Armenian foreign minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and his Azeri counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov did not speak to reporters.

The talks  were held on invitation from Russian president Vladimir Putin.

The latest outburst of fighting between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces began 27 September and left hundreds of people dead in the biggest escalation of the decades-old conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. 

The region lies in Azerbaijan but has been under control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since the end of a separatist war in 1994.

Azerbaijan said on Friday that 31 Azeri civilians had been killed and 168 wounded since the start of the recent conflict. It has not disclosed information about military casualties.

Nagorno-Karabakh said 376 of its military personnel and 22 civilians had been killed.