- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.
A soldier of the defense army of Nagorny Karabakh walks past tanks at a field position outside the village of Mataghis, some 70km north of Karabakh's capital Stepanakert, on April 6, 2016 - Sputnik International

Live Updates: Armenia, Azerbaijan Agree in Geneva Not to Target Civilians and Civilian Facilities

Subscribe
Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed to three ceasefire deals over the past month (two mediated by Russia, and one by the United States), but all of them fell through, as Baku and Yerevan accused each other of violating the agreements and continuing the attacks in Karabakh mere hours after the truces entered into force.

Military clashes began in Nagorno-Karabakh on 27 September, with Azerbaijan and Armenia accusing each other of carrying out provocations on the line of contact. Baku has declared partial mobilisation, while Armenia and the unrecognised republic of Nagorno-Karabakh announced full mobilisation. The heads of Russia, the US, and France urged the sides to resume talks without preconditions, while Turkey pledged to support Azerbaijan "both in negotiations and in combat".

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict erupted in the late 1980s, with the predominantly Armenian-populated autonomous region later announcing plans to join Armenia and proclaiming its independence from Azerbaijan. As a result, Baku and Yerevan waged a full-scale war for the area between 1992 and 1994 that left 40,000 troops and civilians from both sides dead.

A ceasefire mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group was signed in 1994, but the conflict remained frozen, and the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic still continues to be an unrecognised state.

Follow Sputnik's Live Feed to Find Out More!

Table of contents
New firstOld first
02:45 GMT 31.10.2020

"Now much-needed medical supplies, including dressing kits and bandages, will be provided for civilians caught up in the crisis through a new £1 million UK aid package, in response to an appeal by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). People injured in the fighting, including children caught in the crossfire, will receive life-saving treatment at health facilities or from emergency responders supported by the ICRC", the Foreign Office said in a statement on late Friday.

00:27 GMT 31.10.2020

Tatoyan also posted on Facebook a video allegedly showing the shelling of a forest area with munitions that look like phosphorus ones.

"Azerbaijan is using, as the current data confirms, Phosphorus munitions over Nagorno-Karabakh setting fires to the forests which are next to civilian communities. Armenia's Human Rights Defender's urgent investigation results; fact-finding activities of Artsakh Human Rights Ombudsman confirmed not only this fact, but also the fact that during days and nights many civilians are hiding in these forests from Azerbaijani military attacks", Armenian ombudsman Arman Tatoyan wrote on his Facebook page on late Friday.

21:07 GMT 30.10.2020

Baku and Erevan have also agreed to provide the International Committee of the Red Cross with the list of prisoners of war for a possible swap within 7 days, the OSCW Minsk Group said.

20:34 GMT 30.10.2020

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) - The UN Security Council may hold a discussion again on the ongoing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan if the situation on the ground deteriorates, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzia said in a press briefing on Friday.

"I hope that the parties will implement what they agreed to - I mean the ceasefire. I cannot exclude if the situation deteriorates, the council may, again, return to the issue", Nebenzia, who presides with the UN Security Council during the month of October, said. "Non-referral of this issue to the Security Council is the best testimony that something has moved".

20:27 GMT 30.10.2020
19:12 GMT 30.10.2020

Answering about the reliability of reports about the shelling of the village of Davit Bek, which is located some 180 miles from Yerevan, Armenian Defence Ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan stated that hostilities had been conducted in this direction.

"Military operations were conducted in this direction, and the [Azerbaijani] armed forces had opened fire from artillery weapons, there are consequences", Hovhannisyan said.

He added that he did not yet have information about casualties.

13:46 GMT 30.10.2020

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Iran is ready to be a mediator in the Karabakh crisis settlement and hopes that its plan will help achieve sustainable peace, Abbas Araghchi, Iran's deputy foreign minister and special presidential envoy for Karabakh, told Sputnik on Friday.

"Taking into consideration the importance of the issue, the good relations that the Islamic Republic of Iran maintains with both Armenia and Azerbaijan, and the special conditions and sensitivity of the region, the Islamic Republic of Iran has always seriously declared its readiness to contribute to the ceasefire, dialogue, peace and order", Araghchi said, when asked if Iran is ready to serve as a mediator.

While explaining the details of the new Iranian initiative — which envisions "termination of the occupation, respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty" — Tehran has taken into consideration the goals of Baku and Yerevan, the presidential envoy stressed.

"We have drafted an acceptable proposal, in which influential regional countries can engage, and we hope that this plan will open door to sustainable peace in Nagorno-Karabakh", Araghchi went on to say.

13:00 GMT 30.10.2020
11:01 GMT 30.10.2020

"Units of the Defence Army have captured one more terrorist. Even a perfunctory inquiry leaves no doubt that there are other terrorists present on the Azerbaijani frontline. The name of the captured Islamic radical and terrorist is Mehred Muhammad Alshkher, he is from Syria", the NKR infocentre wrote on Telegram.

10:10 GMT 30.10.2020

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Peacekeepers can only enter Karabakh if both Armenia and Azerbaijan give their consent, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

"We have answered similar questions many times. Any peacekeepers are deployed to a conflict area only with the consent of both sides", Peskov told reporters.

09:21 GMT 30.10.2020
07:27 GMT 30.10.2020

BAKU (Sputnik) - The Azerbaijani Armed Forces on Thursday destroyed an Armenian multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) that was firing at the city of Barda near the breakaway republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Defence Ministry said on Friday.

"The firing position of the 'Smerch' MLRS of the Armenian Armed Forces, which fired at the peaceful population and civilian infrastructure in the city of Barda, was determined by our units. On 29 October, at about 15:18 [11:18 GMT], the enemy's 'Smerch' MLRS was destroyed by the accurate fire of our units", the ministry said in a statement.

 

07:18 GMT 30.10.2020

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Russian Foreign Ministry does not deny that there is a chance that mercenaries from Syria and Libya who are now fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh could infiltrate Russia, Deputy Foreign Minister Oleg Syromolotov said in an interview with Sputnik.

"Of course, this danger cannot be denied”, Syromolotov said.

Nothing can be regarded as a "trifle" in the fight against terrorism, the diplomat continued.

"It is important to analyse all the risks, including the potential ones, and be proactive", Syromolotov noted, assuring that Russian law enforcement agencies are following developments thoroughly and "keeping their ears to the ground".

06:53 GMT 30.10.2020

TERTER, Azerbaijan (Sputnik) - Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu personally led efforts by his ministry to organise a humanitarian corridor between Armenia and Azerbaijan for the exchange of bodies of killed servicemen, Azerbaijani presidential aide Khikmet Gadzhiyev told Sputnik on Friday.

On Thursday, Baku transferred around 30 bodies of killed Armenian servicemen to Yerevan, as well as two elderly Armenian citizens, thanks to Russia's mediation

"I would like to precisely emphasise the role of the Russian Defence Ministry. It is in the humanitarian context, the organisation of contacts, especially the role of Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu. He also used his influence, his contacts with the Armenian Defence Ministry, to ensure a humanitarian corridor along the border of Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Gazakh and Tovuz regions", Gadzhiyev said.

The presidential aide added that the exchange mechanism was developed with the participation of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

06:11 GMT 30.10.2020
05:15 GMT 30.10.2020

BAKU (Sputnik) - The Azerbaijani Defence Ministry on Friday said that Armenian forces had attacked various Azerbaijani positions in the breakaway republic of Nagorno-Karabakh throughout Thursday and the early hours of Friday.

"During the day on 29 October and overnight, the Armenian Armed Forces fired at the positions of the units of Azerbaijan Army and our human settlements in different directions of the front with various weapons, including artillery and missiles”, the ministry said in a statement, adding that the military operations took place in the direction of the Aghdere, Khojavend, and Qubadli settlements.

According to the ministry, the attacks were "strongly suppressed".

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала