A new humanitarian truce is due to take effect Monday, October 26, in Nagorno-Karabakh, but new fighting broke out again on Sunday in the enclave.

Azerbaijani and Armenian separatists blame each other for breaking previous ceasefires. 

In a joint statement, the US State Department and the Azerbaijani and Armenian governments said the truce would come into effect at 8 am Monday (4 am GMT). 

"Congratulations to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev, who have just agreed to a ceasefire. [...] Many lives will be saved," US President Donald Trump said on Twitter. . 

Congratulations to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who just agreed to adhere to a cease fire effective at midnight.

Many lives will be saved.

Proud of my team @SecPompeo & Steve Biegun & @WHNSC for getting the deal done!

- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 25, 2020

The announcement came two days after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held separate talks in Washington with his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts.

The co-chairs of the Minsk group (Russia, France) also took part in these meetings. 

During "intensive discussions", "the Co-Presidents and Foreign Ministers discussed the immediate implementation of the humanitarian ceasefire, the possible parameters of its verification, and they initiated a discussion on the main substantive elements of a comprehensive solution, ”they said in a joint statement. 

The Minsk group, tasked by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) with mediating the conflict, said the co-chairs and foreign ministers had agreed to meet again in Geneva on October 29. 

Baku and Yerevan accuse each other of violating the ceasefire

The clashes that broke out on Sunday and the failure of the two previous ceasefires concluded under the aegis of Russia, however, cast a shadow over these new efforts to end the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, l enclave mainly inhabited and controlled by Armenians. 

Baku and Yerevan accused each other again on Sunday of targeting civilian sites, while the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Ministry said it had recorded 11 additional deaths in the ranks of the army, for a toll s' now approaching a thousand dead soldiers. 

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said Armenian troops violated the ceasefire agreed on Sunday by bombing villages in the Terter and Lachin regions.

After several years of calm, the war resumed on September 27, and the world powers seek to avoid a large-scale armed conflict, which would also involve Turkey, unwavering support of Azerbaijan, and Russia, bound by a pact of defense to Armenia. 

With Reuters 

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