Armenia, Azerbaijan agree ceasefire, start of 'substantive' talks

Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed on Saturday to a ceasefire and to begin “substantive talks” over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh after nearly two weeks of fierce clashes. Bitter fighting in the central Asian region has claimed hundreds of lives, forced thousands to flee, and stirred fears of a full-blown war that could suck in regional powers Turkey and Russia. Speaking after 11 hours of Moscow-mediated talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the warring sides had agreed to a ceasefire from “12 hours 00 minutes on October 10 on humanitarian grounds”. It was not immediately clear whether the pause in fighting would come into effect at noon in...