UN Secretary-General welcomes ceasefire agreement between Armenia & Azerbaijan

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres accepted the joint statement by the United States, Armenia and Azerbaijan on October 25, declaring a humanitarian cease-fire agreement. The earlier ceasefire agreements between the warring nations have only lasted a few hours with both countries accusing the other of repeated violations. According to the reports by ANI, the new agreement on October 10 reached Moscow and reaffirmed in Paris on October 17. 

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Ceasefire agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan

The statement read, "the Secretary-General welcomes the agreement on a humanitarian ceasefire announced yesterday in Moscow by the Foreign Ministers of the Russian Federation, Azerbaijan and Armenia. He commends the Russian Federation for its mediation efforts". The disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognised as a part of Azerbaijan but is controlled by ethnic Armenians. Azerbaijan and Armenia have both been at odds over Nagorno-Karabakh for decades. The decision of a cease fire came after Co-Chairs of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group (Igor Popov of Russia, Stephane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the United States of America) met with Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov. Guterres urged the parties to implement the agreement without any delays. 

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Guterres also requested both the parties to allow safe access to humanitarian workers in order to provide assistance to civilians in the region. According to the reports by news.un, the Secretary-General also urged countries to ‘continue to encourage the sides to resolve their differences through peaceful means’. The international community has condemned the escalation of violence in the conflict and has urged both countries to find a peaceful solution. Turkey has pledged its full support for Azerbaijan adding to the fears of regional instability.

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(Image Credits: news.un.org)