Truce between Armenia and Azerbaijan immediately fails upon start

Armenia and Azerbaijan created a truce that was supposed to start Saturday, when both sides immediately began accusing each other of breaking the deal.

The Russia-brokered cease-fire in Nagorno-Karabakh was announced overnight and sponsored by the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The truce never entered force according to Azerbaijan’s top diplomat, who said the two sides blamed each other with new attacks. 

Just after the truce was supported to take force, the Armenian military accused Azerbaijan of shelling the area near the town of Kapan in southeastern Armenia, killing one civilian. Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry rejected the accusations as a “provocation.”

In return, the Azerbaijani military accused Armenia of striking the Terter and Agdam regions of Azerbaijan with missiles and then attempting to launch offensives in the Agdere-Terter and the Fizuli-Jabrail areas. 

The Armenian Defense Ministry denied any truce violations. 

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said the “conditions for implementing the humanitarian cease-fire are currently missing” amid the continuing Armenian shelling. 

The most recent fighting between the two countries began Sept. 27 and left hundreds dead. 

The deal was intended to pave the way for talks on settling any disputes and tensions. Russia along with the United States and France as co-chairs have tried to work together to produce a peace deal between the two countries. 

If the peace agreement lasts, it would be a major diplomatic milestone for Russia, the co-sponsor of the deal with close ties to Armenia and Azerbaijan.