Armenia, Azerbaijan Agree to Truce in Fight Over Karabakh

Russia helped negotiate a cease-fire Thursday in the conflict over the disputed Transcaucasian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Itar-Tass news agency said.

In a report from the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi, the agency said that representatives of Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to a cease-fire starting at noon today.

Russian Defense Minister Pavel S. Grachev acted as mediator in the dispute, the agency said.

The cease-fire, to be followed by talks Tuesday between the Azerbaijani and Armenian prime ministers, was agreed to during talks between Russia and Georgia on another Transcaucasian trouble spot--Georgia’s western region of Abkhazia.

Senior Azerbaijani and Armenian officials arrived in Sochi after the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict again spilled over the borders of the mountainous enclave and risked plunging the two former Soviet republics into an all-out war.

More than 3,000 people have been killed in five years of fighting in and around the enclave, formally part of Azerbaijan but largely inhabited by Armenians.

Armenian forces this month seized a large section of Azerbaijani territory separating the enclave from Armenia, killing many and forcing thousands to flee.

Armenia says the offensive was launched by Karabakh’s Armenian forces to prevent Azerbaijani troops from cutting off supply routes between Armenia proper and Karabakh.