Azerbaijan

Russia began deploying 2,000 peacekeepers to Nagorno-Karabakh on Tuesday after Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed a peace deal to end the military conflict over the region after more than a month of fighting.

Armenia and Azerbaijan, two former Soviet republics, have been involved in a territorial conflict since they gained independence in the 1990s. Nagorno-Karabakh, which is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, but is historically an ethnic Armenian region, has been the focal point of the conflict between the two nations.

The agreement was announced on Tuesday by Armenia’s prime minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev and Russia’s president Vladimir Putin. Under the deal, Azerbaijan will keep territorial gains made in the fighting, including the enclave’s second city of Shushi. Ethnic Armenian forces must give up control of a slew of other territories between now and December 1.

Putin said that a Russian force of 1,960 military personnel and 90 armoured personnel carriers would be deployed along the frontline in Nagorno-Karabakh and the corridor between the region and Armenia. He added that the peacekeepers will stay in place for at least five years.

Aliev said that Turkey will also take part in the peace-keeping process, while Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan hailed the truce as a “right step in the direction of a lasting solution”.

More than 1,400 people have died since the fighting broke out on September 27, including many civilians. Fighting has surged to its worst level since the 1990s, when about 30,000 people were killed.

Armenia and Azerbaijan accused one another on Tuesday of firing directly into each other’s territory and rejected urges to hold peace talks as their conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region continued.

Both countries were part of the Soviet Union and have been involved in a territorial conflict since gaining independence within the 1990s. The main issue is the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but controlled by ethnic Armenians.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Tuesday that the atmosphere was not right for talks with Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev has also rejected any possibility of talks with Armenia.

On Tuesday, Armenia’s foreign ministry said a civilian was killed in the Armenian town of Vardenis after it was shelled by Azeri artillery and targeted in a drone attack. Azerbaijan’s defence ministry said that from Vardenis the Armenian army had shelled the Dashkesan region inside Azerbaijan. Armenia denied those reports.

Armenia, which earlier accused Turkey of sending mercenaries to back Azerbaijani forces, said a Turkish fighter jet had shot down one of its warplanes over Armenian airspace, killing the pilot. Turkey has denied the claim.

On Tuesday, the United Nations’ Security Council expressed concern about the clashes, condemned the use of force and backed a call by UN chief Antonio Guterres for an immediate halt to fighting.

Nagorno-Karabakh has reported the loss of at least 84 soldiers. The current incident is the most serious spike in hostilities since 2016, the when the nations fought for 4 days in the region. The violence resulted in the deaths of over 90 troops on each side and over a dozen civilians.