Armenia says ready to engage with mediators for Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire

Armenia has expressed readiness to work with international mediators to establish a ceasefire with Azerbaijan over the breakaway Nagorny-Karabakh region where fierce fighting entered a sixth day.

Armenia's foreign ministry on Friday said it "stands ready" to engage with the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) "to re-establish a ceasefire regime" in Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The Caucasus neighbours have been locked in a simmering conflict for decades over the region and new fighting that erupted on Sunday has been the heaviest in decades.

France, Russia and the United States, co-chairs of the OSCE's Minsk Group, set up in 1992 to mediate in the conflict between Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenians over the mountainous enclave in the South Caucasus, called for an immediate ceasefire on Thursday. But Turkey said the three big powers should have no role in peace moves.

Nearly 200 people have been confirmed killed since Sunday, including more than 30 civilians, and there are fears of the fighting expanding into an all-out, multi-front war that could suck in regional powers Turkey and Russia.

Armenia and Karabakh declared martial law and military mobilisation Sunday, while Azerbaijan imposed military rule and a curfew in large cities.

Talks to resolve the conflict have largely stalled since a 1994 ceasefire agreement.

(with inputs)