Aid enters Nagorno-Karabakh as Armenia separatists lay down weapons

A border-crossing point on the frontier between Armenia and Azerbaijan and a base of Russian peacekeepers deployed in Nagorno-Karabakh [Irakli Gedenidze/Reuters]

Armenian separatists have begun laying down their weapons, as the first convoy of humanitarian aid entered Nagorno-Karabakh days after a Russian-brokered ceasefire deal ended Azerbaijan’s offensive this week.

“We are in close cooperation with the Russian peacekeepers, conducting the demilitarisation” of the separatists, Azerbaijan Ministry of Defence spokesman Anar Eyvazov told reporters in Shusha on Saturday, a district on the edge of the rebel stronghold of Stepanakert.