The foreign ministers of the two countries met in Moscow to discuss the war in the Nagorno-Karabakh region • Relative calm in the region after a week of incessant bombing and killing
Foreign Ministers of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan in Moscow // Photo: AP
For the first time since the war broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, talks on a ceasefire were held tonight (Friday) between the foreign ministers of the Russian-sponsored countries in the Russian capital Moscow.
Diplomatic sources in France claimed that there was a chance of a breakthrough in talks that lasted more than seven hours, but this is far from certain.
"We are moving towards a ceasefire tomorrow or the day after, but the whole thing is still very fragile," said French President Emmanuel Macron.
Relative calm prevailed during the evening hours in the disputed region even though the Armenian Ministry of Defense claimed that the fighting was still going on.
Tonight no significant artillery fire was recorded at civilian targets in the region as on previous nights.
The one that continues to make it difficult to hold peace talks is Turkey, which adds war declarations as the parties meet in Moscow.
A spokesman for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Ibrahim Kline, told Al-Jazeera: "If they only work for a ceasefire, it will fail and achieve nothing. Only the liberation of the lands occupied by the Armenians will ensure peace."
The war in the Nagorno-Karabakh region broke out two weeks ago and claimed the lives of hundreds of Armenian and Azeri soldiers along with at least 56 civilians killed in the bombings by both sides.
More than 70,000 refugees fled the Nagorno-Karabakh region, almost a third of its population, due to the Azeri shelling of the population centers.
The Armenians, for their part, fired ballistic missiles at two of Azerbaijan's largest cities, damaging infrastructure, killing civilians and destroying residential buildings.