YEVLAKH: Azerbaijan and Armenian separatists from the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh held their first direct peace talks Thursday, after Baku claimed to have regained control over the breakaway region in a lightning military operation.
The separatists agreed to lay down their arms on Wednesday as part of a Russian-brokered ceasefire plan that halted Azerbaijan's 24-hour offensive to retake land at the centre of decades of conflict.
Azerbaijan's presidency said the two-hour meeting had been "held in a constructive and peaceful atmosphere" in the presence of Russian peacekeepers and that both sides had agreed to more talks.
Baku's negotiators presented plans for the "reintegration" of Karabakh's Armenian population into Azerbaijan and pledged to provide urgently needed fuel, humanitarian supplies, and medical care to residents.
While the meeting was happening, gunfire rang out in the separatist stronghold of Stepanakert on Thursday despite the truce deal.
"There was a small exchange of fire outside the city," Arutyun Gasparyan, a businessman and father of two, said. "We are sitting at home and waiting for the results of the talks."
The breakaway authorities accused Azerbaijan of violating the ceasefire, but Baku denied the allegation. The region's human rights ombudsman said on social media that "the streets of Stepanakert are filled with displaced people, hungry, scared, and in uncertainty".
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought two wars over the small mountainous region.
The years of conflict have been marked by abuses on both sides, and there are concerns of a fresh refugee crisis as Karabakh's Armenian population fears being forced out.
Armenia warned the United Nations that Azerbaijan was carrying out "ethnic cleansing" and committing a "crime against humanity" as it regained control.
Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said his country did not envisage any large-scale evacuations for now but was preparing contingency plans. The UN Security Council was due to hold an emergency session to discuss the situation in Karabakh after the Azerbaijani assault that separatists said killed 200 people. - AFP
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