On November 9th the warring parties in Nagorno-Karabakh signed a ceasefire agreement brokered by Russia. The agreement comes after weeks of very heaving fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia which killed and displaced thousands of people.
Nagorno-Karabakh is an enclave of mostly ethnic Armenians but in territory internationally recognized as Azerbaijan. In the early 1990s, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a major war which resulted in the de-facto control of Nagorno-Karabakh by ethnic Armenians, who were backed by the Armenian government.
That status quo was shattered when Azerbaijan launched a successful military campaign several weeks ago. With troops nearing the regional capital, Armenia felt compelled to enter a ceasefire agreement brokered by Russia, which has friendly relations with both countries. This agreement more or less solidifies Azerbaijan’s military gains and calls for Russian peacekeepers to patrol the region.
On the line with me to discuss these recent events Anna Zamejc, a freelance journalist who has covered this region for years. We spend a few minutes at the start of the conversation discussing the recent history of Nagorno-Karabakh before having a longer conversation about the regional and international implications of this ceasefire agreement.