Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and he signed a statement on Monday declaring a "complete cessation of fire and all hostilities" in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone from 00:00 Moscow time Tuesday.
Azerbaijan and Armenia agreed to stop at their positions they have held, Putin said.
Russia has started deploying 1,960 peacekeepers to Nagorno-Karabakh, the Russian Defense Ministry was quoted by local media as saying on Tuesday.
A Russian peacekeeping contingent is being deployed consisting of 1,960 military personnel, 90 armored personnel carriers, 380 vehicles and pieces of special equipment, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijan and Armenia will exchange war prisoners, other detained persons and bodies of the dead, while all economic and transport links of the region will be unblocked, according to the Russian leader.
Internally displaced persons and refugees will return to the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and its surrounding areas under the care of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Putin said.
The Armenian armed forces committed a large-scale provocation, subjecting the positions of the Azerbaijani army to intensive shelling from large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery installations of various calibers in the front-line zone on Sept. 27 at 05:00 (Msk). The command of the Azerbaijani Army decided to launch a counter-offensive operation of Azerbaijani troops along the entire front to suppress the combat activity of the Armenian armed forces and ensure the safety of the civilian population. To date, Shusha, Fizuli and Jabrayil districts, including the cities of Jabrayil and Fizuli, the city of Zangilan and part of Zangilan district, part of the Gubaldi region, the city of Gubadli, the city of Hadrut, and a number of villages in the Khojavend region, the villages of Sugovushan and Talish in the Terter region, as well as the strategically important Murovdag mountain were liberated.
