Live Updates: Blast Reported South-East of Stepanakert in Karabakh

Responding to inquiries from media outlets regarding the rumours from undisclosed sources about the death of two Russian border guards, the Russian embassy in Armenia said that the claims were not true.

"Russia is a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group and a mediator, and hence, must maintain a certain neutrality. And this is understandable," the Armenian minister told Al Jazeera news channel.

Russia has a cooperation deal with Armenia and has played a key role in decades-long peace talks between Armenia and Turkey-backed Azerbaijan over the Armenian-majority region that is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.

#Azerbaycan Dışişleri Bakanı kardeşim Ceyhun Bayramov ile çok yararlı bir görüşme yaptık. Azerbaycanlı kardeşlerimizle her daim birlikteyiz, beraberiz, tek milletiz! 🇹🇷🇦🇿@bayramov_jeyhun pic.twitter.com/yPCbzFqcfX

— Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (@MevlutCavusoglu) November 1, 2020

VATICAN CITY (Sputnik) - Pope Francis on Sunday once again urged the sides of the conflict in the breakaway republic of Nagorno Karabakh to engage in dialogue under the auspices of the international community.

"I would like to renew my appeal to the warring parties that they may, as soon as possible, intervene to stop the bloodshed", the pope said, as quoted by the Holy See, during his traditional Sunday address, asking the sides to solve their differences by "engaging in sincere negotiations with the help of the international community”.

STEPANAKERT (Sputnik) - Approximately 100,000 citizens of the breakaway republic of Nagorno Karabakh have been forced to leave their homes due to the ongoing armed conflict, the republic's ombudsman Artak Beglaryan told Sputnik on Sunday.

"I cannot say exactly how many people remain in Stepanakert, but about 100,000 have left their homes. Some have moved to other residences and some left for Armenia", Beglaryan said.

TEHRAN (Sputnik) - Tehran is waiting for a response from Yerevan, Moscow, Baku, and Ankara regarding a proposed initiative to resolve the conflict in the breakaway republic of Nagorno Karabakh, Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said on Sunday.

"We are waiting for the Azerbaijani and Armenian authorities as well as our Russian and Turkish friends to express their views on this plan", Zarif said as quoted by the Iranian government's official website.

According to the foreign minister, the plan not only includes a temporary ceasefire but also a process toward settling the conflict with all sides involved making the necessary commitments. He also pointed out the need to cease the occupation of all seized territories and secure monitoring by regional states over the initiative's implementation.

Earlier in the week, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visited Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Russia, where he presented Iran's plan for a settlement in the region.

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev stated that the withdrawal of Armenian forces from Nagorno-Karabakh must be ensured via negotiations as soon as possible, adding that otherwise Baku will have to "go all the way".

"Armenia has actually admitted its defeat. As you know, the prime minister of Armenia [Pashinyan] recently sent a letter to the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin. This letter is actually an admission of defeat, because military support from Russia was requested, while there is no reason for this", he claimed, saying that Azerbaijani forces have no plans to cross Armenia’s borders, as they are only conducting operations on Azerbaijani territory.

According to a Sputnik correspondent, from 5:30 to 7:00 GMT, multiple explosions were heard in Stepanakert. The air raid siren was turned on for a short time, but there is no information on damage within the city limits.