Summary of the day
A ceasefire agreement was reached one day after Azerbaijan launched a new military offensive against the local Armenian government in Nagorno-Karabakh. Local officials in Stepanakert and in Baku have confirmed that representatives will meet in Yevlakh in Azerbaijan on Thursday for negotiations.
A spokesperson for the European Commission told reporters that Brussels hoped the announcement of a ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh “will be followed up on the ground”.
The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, asked Azerbaijan to ensure proper treatment of Karabakh Armenians, telling the Azerbaijani leader, Ilham Aliyev, that “their human rights and security need to be ensured”.
Marina Kaljurand, the chair of the European parliament’s delegation for relations with the south Caucasus, called for the EU to rethink its relationship with Azerbaijan and work to protect Armenian civilians.
Updated
Russia, once more, is playing a role following the latest violence in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Although the dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia has a long history, Armenia’s decision in 1988 to declare Nagorno-Karabakh a separate ‘state’, taking it out of Azerbaijan and uniting it with Armenia is seen as a significant moment.
The announcement of a unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) for Nagorno-Karabakh by Armenia was prompted by its impatience with Moscow’s diplomatic failure, as they saw it, to resolve the territorial dispute.
The Guardian’s Jonathan Steele, based in Moscow, explained the significance of the escalation “which had pitted two Soviet republics against each other for the first time” and the implications it would have for the region.
