Spotlight: Int'l community welcomes Nagorno-Karabakh cease-fire, urges implementation

Major powers and organizations in the world have welcomed a cease-fire between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and called for strict implementation.

Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed Tuesday to the cease-fire, which took effect at noon, after deadly clashes between forces of the two countries erupted overnight Saturday.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev stressed the need to ensure a strict implementation of the cease-fire and the resumption of efforts to seek a political settlement in a telephone conversation with his Armenian counterpart, Hovik Abrahamyan, on Tuesday.

Earlier Tuesday, in phone talks with presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Russian President Vladimir Putin also called for the resumption of negotiations between Baku and Yerevan with the assistance of the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to seek a peaceful settlement of the conflict.

Putin said that Russia would play an intermediary role in the normalization of the situation, and that all sides agreed to keep contact in different formats.

At a special meeting of OSCE Minsk Group countries on Tuesday, participants welcomed the cease-fire, urging sides involved in the conflict to respect the agreement and immediately stop using force.

It is important to return to the political process on the basis of a sustainable cease-fire, said the group, composed of Belarus, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Sweden, Turkey and the United States.

The OSCE Minsk Group countries also welcomed the plan to undertake direct consultations with sides as soon as possible.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said at the meeting: "Reports on the cessation of hostilities are encouraging. Our immediate efforts must now focus on stabilizing the cease-fire and preventing any new escalation. Hostilities must stop in an effective and lasting way."

The OSCE is going to send a fact-finding mission, said Steinmeier, whose country chairs the OSCE.

The United States welcomed the cease-fire and called on the parties to return to the Minsk peace process, U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner told a press briefing on Tuesday. "The United States does welcome both sides' confirmation of a cease-fire."

France, the United States and Russia are to send envoys to Azerbaijan, Armenia and to Nagorno-Karabakh in a bid to resolve the conflict, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said Tuesday.

"We can see that military conflict cannot be the solution, nor is the status quo," he told reporters after talks with his German counterpart.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a bitter dispute over the mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Conflict first broke out in 1988, when the enclave dominated by ethnic Armenians claimed independence from Azerbaijan and declared to join Armenia.

Peace talks have been held since 1994 when a cease-fire was reached, but there have been occasional minor clashes.

Recent hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan on the contact line in Nagorno-Karabakh flared up overnight Saturday with the two countries blaming each other for triggering the escalation.

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said Tuesday that its forces have killed 70 Armenian soldiers and destroyed 20 armored vehicles on Monday and Tuesday, while at least 16 Azerbaijani soldiers were killed during heavy fighting in the region. Endi