A wedding was held in the Shushi Cathedral on Oct. 25 weeks after it was hit by missiles. Photo via Karabakh Records

Following two days of talks with Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign minister, the U.S. State Department issued the following trilateral statement on October 25:

“Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov met with Deputy Secretary of State Stephen E. Biegun on October 24, 2020 and reaffirmed their countries’ commitment to implement and abide by the humanitarian ceasefire agreed in Moscow on October 10, which were reaffirmed in the statement issued from Paris on October 17, in accordance with the October 1, 2020 joint statement of United States President Donald J. Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.  The humanitarian ceasefire will take effect at 08:00 a.m. local time (12:00 a.m. EDT) on October 26, 2020.  The United States facilitated intensive negotiations among the Foreign Ministers and the Minsk Group Co-Chairs to move Armenia and Azerbaijan closer to a peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.”

Previous such agreements to cease-fire had not held. Continued fighting was reported in Karabakh throughout Sunday. Once again the focus of the military operations was in the south of Karabakh, where Turkish-backed Azerbaijani forces continued offensives towards Syunik and the Goris-Stepanakert road. There were also reports of “localized” fighting in Martuni, Hadrut and Askeran districts.