A cease-fire between Armenia and Azerbaijan appears to be holding after two days of heavy fighting linked to a decades-old dispute between the Caucasus neighbors over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh killed dozens.
The clashes that erupted on September 13 -- the worst since the two sides fought a war in 2020 -- ended "thanks to the international involvement" overnight on September 15, Armenia's Security Council said, after earlier failed attempts by Russia to broker a truce.
However, Azerbaijan has yet to confirm the cease-fire, which was first announced by the secretary of Armenia's Security Council, Armen Grigorian, on Armenian television.
Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry said on September 15 that a total of 71 of its soldiers had been killed during clashes this week on the border with Armenia, updating a previous death toll of 50.
Your browser doesn’t support HTML5
Armenian Villagers Take Stock Amid Ruined Houses After The Latest Fighting With Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan has said it is ready to hand over the bodies of up to 100 Armenian troops to the other side. Armenia has said 105 of its soldiers have been killed since September 13.
The United Nations welcomed the cease-fire announcement.
UN Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenca said "the international community must remain fully committed to a peaceful settlement between Armenia and Azerbaijan and spare no effort to de-escalate the current tensions, bring the parties back to the negotiation table and help them achieve peace and stability in the region."
Both sides have blamed each other for starting the most recent hostilities, with Armenia accusing Azerbaijan of an unprovoked attack that reached into Armenian territory and Baku saying it was responding to shelling by Armenian forces.
Before the cease-fire was announced, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said Azerbaijani forces had struck and seized several Armenian settlements along their shared border and in territory beyond Nagorno-Karabakh. Baku said it was responding to "provocations" by the Armenian side.
Your browser doesn’t support HTML5
Thousands Call For Armenian Prime Minister's Ouster
Russia said it was seeking to reverse any shift in the military balance of the region that had occurred as a result of this week's fighting.
"We are in close contact with both countries so as to arrive at a sustainable cease-fire and the return of Azerbaijani and Armenian military to their positions of origin," Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya told the 15-member Security Council on September 15.
In Yerevan, thousands of people took to the streets late on September 14 to demand the resignation of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, whom they accuse of appeasing Azerbaijan.
The seemingly spontaneous protest was apparently sparked by Pashinian's statement in parliament earlier in the day that he was ready to "make tough decisions for the sake of peace."
"We want to sign a document a result of which many people will criticize, curse, and declare us traitors," Pashinian said.
"The people could even remove us from power. We will still be happy if as a result of that [document] the Republic of Armenia gets a lasting peace and security on its 29,800-square-kilometer territory."
Pashinian did not elaborate on the contents of such a document.
Baku and Yerevan have been locked in a conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh for years. Armenian-backed separatists seized the mainly Armenian-populated region from Azerbaijan during a war in the early 1990s that killed some 30,000 people.
The two sides fought another war in 2020 that lasted six weeks and killed an estimated 6,000 people before a Russian-brokered cease-fire, resulting in Armenia losing control over parts of the region and seven adjacent districts.
Under the cease-fire Moscow deployed about 2,000 troops to the region to serve as peacekeepers. Russia moved quickly to negotiate an end to the latest hostilities, but a renewal of the cease-fire has failed to hold.
Pashinian told parliament that Armenia had appealed to the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to help it restore its territorial integrity.
"Our allies are Russia and the CSTO," Pashinian said, adding that the CSTO pact states that an aggression against one member is an aggression against all.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and leaders of other CSTO members have discussed the situation, urging a quick cessation of hostilities.
Putin is set to hold a meeting on September 16 with Aliyev in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, where both are attending a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a security grouping dominated by Russia and China.
Putin will also meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, which is Azerbaijan's main ally.