Enlarge image
Azerbaijani Army units (still from YouTube clip) on the border with Armenia
Photo: Armenian Defense Ministry/AP
According to Armenian sources, a ceasefire has been agreed after two days of heavy fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the southern causus.
The ceasefire has been in effect since 8 p.m. local time (6 p.m. CEST), said the Secretary of the Armenian Security Council, Armen Grigoryan, on television in Yerevan.
"A ceasefire agreement has been reached with the participation of the international community," he said.
There was initially no confirmation from the Azerbaijani capital Baku.
The Armenian Ministry of Defense announced in the evening that the shelling had subsided.
According to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, more than 100 Armenians have been killed in the fighting since Tuesday night.
50 square kilometers of Armenian territory are in the hands of the enemy, he said in parliament.
The Azerbaijani side spoke of 54 dead in their armed forces.
Despite the ceasefire apparently achieved, the Armenian leadership came under pressure because of the Azerbaijani attacks.
In the capital Yerevan, thousands of demonstrators demanded Pashinyan's resignation on Wednesday evening.
They accused him of giving in to Baku.
After an initial war in the 1990s, Armenia and Azerbaijan fought another war over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region in autumn 2020.
The six-week fighting that left more than 6,500 dead ended with a Russian-brokered ceasefire agreement.
Armenia had to give up large areas.
Reconnaissance mission is due to arrive on Thursday
At the beginning of August this year, violence flared up again.
However, the current outbreak of violence is not about the contested Nagorno-Karabakh region.
At the beginning of the week, Erwian had reported attacks from Azerbaijan on the Armenian core area.
Armenia has requested the assistance of the Russian-led CSTO defense coalition over the attack.
However, Moscow is currently very busy with the war of aggression against Ukraine.
The alliance of former Soviet republics only decided on Tuesday to send a reconnaissance mission to the conflict area.
She should arrive on Thursday.
jok/dpa