LIVE UPDATES: Armenian Security Council Secretary Announces Agreement on Ceasefire With Azerbaijan

As CSTO spokesman Vladimir Zainetdinov said earlier, on September 13, an emergency meeting of the CSTO Permanent Council was held, which expressed extreme concern about the situation on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan and considered proposals for using the CSTO mechanisms for settlement.

"Naturally, we talked about the effort that Russia has made, both individually and through the Collective Security Treaty Organization, to normalize the situation and achieve a truce [between Armenia and Azerbaijan], about the efforts that the CSTO will make after the meeting of the collective Security Council. The partners thanked us for sharing this information, thanked for our efforts," Nebenzia told journalists after a UN Security Council meeting during which the matter was discussed.

An extraordinary meeting of the permanent council of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) convened on Tuesday at the request of Yerevan, during which council members expressed extreme concern about the situation and considered proposals regarding possible use of CSTO mechanisms to resolve the situation. The first CSTO expert group will depart for Armenia on Thursday, and CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas will arrive next week.

Russian envoy to the UN added that all members of the UNSC support ceasefire and peaceful resolution between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Shooting at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border has almost stopped since 16:00 GMT on Wednesday, Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman Aram Torosyan said.

"From 20.00 [16:00 GMT] the fire has practically ceased in all directions, no significant incidents have been recorded," Torosyan wrote on social media.

Azerbaijan has occupied another 10 square kilometers (3.9 square miles) of the Armenian territory this month as a result of renewed clashes on the inter-state border, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Wednesday.

"In May 2021, Azerbaijan occupied 40 square kilometers of Armenia's territory, with 10 square kilometers more now," Pashinyan told the parliament, noting that the Armenian military was now trying to deal with the consequences of the escalation.

Earlier this week, new clashes broke out on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, in an area unrelated to the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Baku and Yerevan have accused each other of ongoing shelling and reported losses in their ranks.

An extraordinary meeting of the organization's permanent council convened on Tuesday at the request of Yerevan, during which council members expressed extreme concern about the situation and considered proposals regarding possible use of CSTO mechanisms to resolve the situation. The first CSTO expert group will depart for Armenia on Thursday, and CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas will arrive next week.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will not participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand this week, the government said on Wednesday.

On Monday, a ceasefire regime on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border was breached in an area unrelated to the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Baku and Yerevan have accused each other of initiating the shelling. Both sides have also reported losses in their ranks.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan have not informed the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit organizers about cancellation of their trips to Samarkand, National Coordinator of Uzbekistan for the SCO Rakhmatulla Nurimbetov said on Wednesday.

"It is planned that all 15 leaders of countries who previously announced their participation in the summit will come to Samarkand. We have not heard that someone has canceled such a decision at the moment," Nurimbetov told Sputnik.

Russian border guards in Armenia have not suffered any injuries during recent clashes with Azerbaijan, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) border control mission in Armenia told Sputnik on Wednesday.

"In connection with the information that was spread in media, the border department of the FSB of Russia in Armenia informs that as a result of the incidents that took place on September 13 and 14, 2022, the employees of the border authority were not injured," the department said.

The first Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) expert group will depart to Armenia on Thursday, and CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas will arrive next week, the organization’s secretariat said on Wednesday.

"The advance group of the mission, headed by Chief of the Joint Staff of the CSTO Col.Gen. Anatoly Sidorov, will fly to Armenia on September 15," CSTO spokesman Vladimir Zaynetdinov told reporters, adding that Zas plans to go to Armenia next week.

Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev held a meeting with EU envoy for South Caucasus Toivo Klaar on the escalation of tensions at the border with Armenia, the president's office said on Wednesday.

On Monday, a ceasefire regime on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border was breached in an area unrelated to the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Baku and Yerevan have accused each other of initiating the shelling. Both sides have also reported losses in their ranks.

"President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received European Union Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia Toivo Klaar. Toivo Klaar expressed concern about the tension that arose on the state border on the night of September 12-13, and stated the fact that the European Union’s leadership spoke over the phone with the Prime Minister of Armenia and the President of Azerbaijan," the statement read.

Aliev said that Armenia was responsible for the large-scale provocation at the border and also stressed that Azerbaijan supports the peace agenda as a continuation of the discussions held in Brussels.

The long-standing conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh flared up in September 2020, marking the most serious escalation in relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan in years. The hostilities ended with a Moscow-brokered trilateral declaration signed in November 2020. Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to completely cease fire and exchange prisoners. However, the situation in the region has remained tense, with intermittent clashes between the two countries.

The Azerbaijani armed forces have not targeted Russian military facilities or vehicles, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

"The information disseminated by the Armenian side that #AzerbaijanArmyUnits allegedly opened fire on the Russian Armed Forces’ #militaryfacility and #vehicles located in the Gegharkunik region is completely false and does not reflect reality," the ministry tweeted.

Commenting on yesterday's CSTO urgent meeting, Pashinyan said that its members had an open and frank discussion of the situation and made necessary decisions. He stressed that Yerevan does not view interference of CSTO as the only chance to settle the conflict with Baku since it could be done through politics or diplomacy.