Azerbaijan: Truce in Karabakh is Only to Exchange Bodies

On Saturday, Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister, Jeyhun Bayramov, said that the ceasefire in the conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region will only last till the Red Cross arranges the exchange of bodies.

Earlier, Azerbaijan and Armenia agreed to a ceasefire for the sake of their people during talks in Moscow.

During a press conference in Baku, the foreign minister said that the current situation is not satisfactory for his country and expected that Azerbaijan would dominate more lands over time.

Azerbaijan and Armenia exchanged accusations over violating the terms of the ceasefire, which raised doubts about the viability of the truce brokered by Russia.

Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed, with Russia, to a ceasefire, starting from today, after two weeks of vicious fighting, which constitutes the worst outbreak of hostilities in the disputed region in 25 years.

The foreign ministers of the two countries said in a statement that the truce aims to exchange prisoners and retrieve the bodies, adding that specific details will be arranged at a later time.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Nagorno Karabakh region accused Azerbaijan of taking the ceasefire as a cover to prepare for further military action, at a time when all parties exchanged accusations of violating the truce proposed by Russia.

The Ministry also said in a statement that the only way to achieve genuine peace is that the international community recognizes the region as an independent republic.

It is noteworthy that the announcement of the truce came after 10 hours of talks in Moscow, which stipulated that the ceasefire should pave the way for talks to settle the conflict.

Moreover, if the truce holds, this will be a major diplomatic achievement for Russia, which has a security agreement with Armenia but also maintains friendly relations with Azerbaijan.

Since the start of the recent fighting, Armenia has expressed its intention to stop the war, while Azerbaijan has insisted that this should be conditioned by the withdrawal of Armenian forces from the region, stating that the failure of international efforts to reach a political settlement left it with no choice but to use force.

The permanent ceasefire in Karabakh would allow the Kremlin to halt Turkey's attempt to expand its influence without destroying its strategic relationship with Ankara.