Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: Armenia-Azerbaijan peace deal likely next month

Weeks after Azerbaijan seized the long-disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, Armenia said that it will sign a peace agreement with Baku in the "coming month".

The territory of Nagorno-Karabakh has been a long-standing contentious issue between the two nations for three decades. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that the two countries "in the coming month shall sign an agreement on peace and the establishment of relations."

His remarks came during an address to an international economic forum in the Georgian capital Tbilisi. The Armenian government on September 28 said that over 65,000 Armenians fled the conflict-ridden zone after the takeover of Nagorno-Karabakh by Baku.

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Meanwhile, France has vowed to back Armenia as concerns continue over fresh tensions with Baku.A report by Politico quoting the French government said that the country is sending ammunition, including air defence systems to Armenia.

"Even if we are not part of the same military and political alliances, we assume this defence relationship, which is based on the simple principle that you need to be able to defend yourself and your civilian population," French Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu told his Armenian counterpart Suren Papikyan at a press conference.

Armenia-Azerbaijan issue

The mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh province is a point of major point of friction between the former soviet states.

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Nagorno-Karabakh came under the control of ethnic Armenian forces, backed by the Armenian military after a full-scale armed fighting by the separatists. The conflict ended in 1994.

Afterwards, during a six-week war in 2020, Azerbaijan took back parts of Nagorno-Karabakh along with surrounding territory that Armenian forces had claimed during the earlier conflict. Following this,skirmishes continued between both countries.

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Later on September 12, 2023, a major escalation took place post which Azerbaijan launched a full-scale attack on the region to reclaim complete control of the breakaway region, occupied by Armenian separatists for about 30 years.The use of modern, deadly drones by the Azeri forces was dubbed as the game changer at the time which completely trashed the Armenian forces.

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The separatist troops could not handle the intensity of the Azeri troops and soon agreed to lay down arms to bring the conflict to an end.

(With inputs from agencies)