YEREVAN, OCTOBER 10, ARMENPRESS. All units of Artsakh Defense Army are ordered to stop firing, Defense Ministry spokesperson Shushan Stepanyan told ARMENPRESS.

The agreement on declaring a cessation of hostilities for humanitarian purposes in the Artsakh-Azerbaijan line of contact entered force 12:00, October 10.

The agreement was reached as a result of the negotiations between the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers on October 9 in Moscow brokered by Russia.

After the talks, the Foreign Ministers of Russian Federation, the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan delivered a statement.

“In response to the call of the President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin, and in accordance with the agreements of the President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia N.V. Pashinyan and the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan I.H. Aliyev, the sides agreed on the steps presented below.

1. To declare a cessation of hostilities for humanitarian purposes on October 10, 2020, starting from 12:00, for the exchange of the prisoners of war, other people detained and bodies of those killed, with the mediation and in accordance with the criteria of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

2. Further parameters of the cessation of hostilities will be agreed upon additionally.

3. The Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan, with the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, on the basis of the fundamental principles of the settlement, are launching substantive negotiations with the aim of achieving early peaceful resolution.

4. The sides reiterate the inalterability of the format of the peace process.”

However, minutes before midday October 10 the Azeri forces launched a missile strike at the town of Kapan in Armenia.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan