Armenia, Azerbaijan agree to a ceasefire as a temporary fix

Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed to a Russia-brokered ceasefire after two weeks of armed conflicts in Nagorno-Karabakh. But some say that it is only a temporary fix as they have not resolved the sovereignty issue. 　

“Azerbaijan and Armenia agreed to a ceasefire from Saturday noon to exchange dead bodies and POWs,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov according to a report of Reuters. Two ministers of diplomacy finished their negotiation after 10 hours of ceasefire talks in Moscow on Friday. The International Committee of the Red Cross will arbitrate exchanges of POWs and dead bodies.

Russia arbitrated ceasefire negotiations as the co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, an international organization to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Russia is a traditional ally of Armenia, which is also Eastern Orthodox, and signed a collective security treaty with it. It has a close relationship with Azerbaijan, a former Soviet state.


Hyun-Seok Lim lhs@donga.com