US announces new ceasefire between Armenia and Azerbaijan

The United States announced on Sunday that Armenia and Azerbaijan have given their consent to a "humanitarian ceasefire" over disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region that will take effect on Monday.  

"Congratulations to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who just agreed to adhere to a cease fire effective at midnight. Many lives will be saved," US President Donald Trump said on Twitter.

The latest ceasefire brokered by the US came after similar agreements negotiated by France and Russia to stop the fighting that has killed thousands. 

It will take effect at 8 am local time (12 am EDT) on Oct. 26, said a joint statement by the US State Department and the governments of Azerbaijan and Armenia. 

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Elin Suleymanov, Azerbaijan Ambassador to the US welcomed the ceasefire in a statement that also blamed Armenia for "provocations".

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"We urge Armenia to observe the ceasefire and stop its military provocations as agreed. Azerbaijan is strongly committed to achieving peace and the high number of Azerbaijani civilian deaths in recent weeks shows who is the aggressor," she said.

Armenia and Azerbaijan's decades-long conflict is over Karabakh since the 1990s when Armenian separatists captured the mountainous region in a war that killed about 30,000 people. 

Karabakh's self-declared independence has not been recognised globally, which includes Armenia, and it remains a part of Azerbaijan according to international law.

The prevailing fighting broke out on September 27 between the neighbouring nations who accuse each other of having targeted the civilians and violating the previous truces.