Since then, sporadic clashes have taken place and fighting began on 27 September. The agreement brokered by Russia came just hours after Azerbaijan acknowledged that its troops had accidentally crashed a Russian helicopter operating in Armenia, killing two Russian soldiers and raising questions about the Kremlin`s response. The agreement also calls for transport links through Armenia, which connects Azerbaijan to its western enclave of Nakhcivan, surrounded by Armenia, Iran and Turkey. Several ceasefires had been declared, but were almost immediately wounded. However, the agreement announced early on Tuesday seemed more likely, as Azerbaijan made significant progress, including the takeover of the strategic city of Shushi on Sunday. Shortly after the announcement, thousands of people flocked to the main square of the Armenian capital Yerevan to protest the agreement, and many shouted, “We will not abandon our country!” Some of them broke into the main government building and said they were looking for Pachinian, apparently already gone. Nagorno-Karabakh has been under the control of Armenian forces, backed by Armenia, since a ceasefire ended a separatist war in 1994 that left an estimated 30,000 people dead. Sporadic clashes have taken place since then and fighting began on 27 September. The agreement calls on the Armenian armed forces to cede control of certain areas they held outside the borders of Nagorno-Karabakh, including the eastern district of Agdam. Yet there was little doubt that the agreement consolidated the gains of the Azerbaijani army, whose largest military force was strengthened by advanced weapons and the support of its ally, Turkey. “The agreement reached has created the necessary conditions for a long-term and comprehensive settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis on a just basis and in the interest of the Armenian and Azerbaijani peoples,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a video address on Tuesday. The agreement cements some of Azerbaijan`s territorial gains in the conflict that began at the end of September. Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed early on Tuesday in a pact signed with Russia to end fighting for the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

It is not known how many people have died in the recent fighting. Both sides accused the other side of targeting only civilians.