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Destroyed building in Ganja, Nagorno-Karabakh: "Turning point in the settlement of the conflict"
Photo: UMIT BEKTAS / REUTERS
In the embattled Caucasus region of Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia and Azerbaijan have stopped fighting.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said he signed a treaty with Azerbaijan and Russia on Tuesday morning after more than a month of bloodshed to end the military conflict over the region.
The agreement therefore provides for an exchange of prisoners.
Both sides should exchange the remains of the killed soldiers, refugees should return to their homeland under the supervision of the United Nations.
Russian border troops take control of the transport links between Karabakh and Armenia.
Azerbaijan and Armenia have committed to freeze their current positions, it said.
A Kremlin spokesman confirmed the news, Russian news agencies reported.
The government in Baku also announced the agreement.
It is "a decisive turning point in the settlement of the conflict," said President Ilham Aliyev.
Arayik Harutyunyan, regional president of Nagorno-Karabakh region, wrote on Facebook that he had agreed to "end the war as soon as possible".
There will be a joint peace mission between Turks and Russians.
On the Russian side, soldiers would be deployed in 1960 for a period of five years with the option of an extension for a further five years.
The posting has already started.
Kremlin speaks of "permanent solution to the crisis"
Russian President Vladimir Putin also announced that he would be sending peacekeeping troops to the region.
However, he did not speak of Turkish participation.
He hoped that the agreement to end the war "will create the necessary conditions for a permanent and comprehensive solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis".
Turkey had backed Azerbaijan in the conflict, while Russia and Armenia have a defense alliance.
Hundreds of people have been killed in fighting in recent weeks, and attempts to initiate a ceasefire have failed.
Mostly Christian Armenians live in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Under international law, the area belongs to the predominantly Islamic Azerbaijan, although it renounced itself in 1991.
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jok / dpa / Reuters