Armenia and Azerbaijan on Saturday agreed to a ceasefire and plan to start “substantive talks" over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, after nearly two weeks of fierce clashes in the disputed territory.
The top diplomats from the two countries in a statement said that the truce is intended to exchange prisoners and recover the dead.
The breakthrough came after some 10 hours of talks between the diplomats in Moscow, which were sponsored by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Sergey Lavrov said the Red Cross would act as an 'intermediary' in the humanitarian operation, which begins once the ceasefire comes into effect at 08:00 GMT on Saturday.
The latest outburst of fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces began September 27 and has left at least 300 people dead in the biggest escalation of the decades-old conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.
The region lies in Azerbaijan but has been under control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since the end of a separatist war in 1994.