NKR Defense Army: An agreement to cease fights largely holds
A bilateral ceasefire along the Line of Contact between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan, which came into force at noon local time on April 5, has largely held, NKR Defense Army reports in a released statement.
To remind, both sides agreed to put halt to fire on April 5, at noon local time.
NKR Defense Army press secretary Senor Hasratyan later informed that Azerbaijani side restarted shootings but not with the same intensity as before.
Armenian Deputy Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan for his part explained that no ceasefire agreement was reached rather a mutual agreement to halt the fights. Media reports suggested that talks over ceasefire agreement are underway.
Peace talks between Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan have been facilitated by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe since March 1992 within the frameworks of so-called Minsk Group, co-Chaired by Russia, United States and France since mid-1990s.
Ceasefire agreement between Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan, facilitated by Russia's representative to the CSCE/OSCE Minsk Group Vladimir Kazimirov, was signed on May 5, 1994, which had been maintained with only sporadic violations along the Line of Contact and international border till the latest Azerbaijani large scale offensive in the night of April 2, 2016. Over the last two years Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh, the OSCE Minsk Group co-Chairs and over 80 U.S. Congressmen proposed (Royce-Engel bill) concrete measures to de-escalate situation and establish ceasefire monitoring equipments along the borders. Azerbaijan has been repeatedly rejecting these calls.