Fragile ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh after peace talks
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00:00 It could be a while before they see their homes again.
00:03 Thousands of ethnic Armenians fleeing following Azerbaijan's military operation this week
00:09 in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh territory.
00:12 Russian peacekeepers said Thursday they'd evacuated around 5,000 residents from dangerous
00:16 areas.
00:18 Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan meanwhile took aim at the peacekeepers.
00:22 "If the peacekeepers managed to negotiate a ceasefire, then why didn't they manage to
00:28 negotiate an agreement to prevent the attack on Nagorno-Karabakh?
00:32 We were warning about it.
00:34 Why didn't they fulfil their peacekeeping functions?"
00:40 He also said Armenia was ready to host 40,000 families and to provide them with accommodation.
00:47 Separatist forces in the territory agreed to a ceasefire with Azerbaijan on Wednesday,
00:52 following 24 hours of intense fighting.
00:56 The offensive took place after a crippling nine-month blockade of the Lachin Corridor,
01:01 the only road linking the disputed territory to Armenia.
01:05 Under the ceasefire, which was mediated by Russia, the breakaway forces agreed to disarm
01:10 and disband.
01:11 On Thursday, representatives from Nagorno-Karabakh and the Azerbaijani government held a first
01:16 round of talks.
01:17 "We are for the dialogue.
01:19 We are for the discussion of all these issues.
01:21 And it's good news that it is already a couple of hours ago we had the meeting, a dialogue
01:29 between the representatives of the Armenian residents of Karabakh and the Central Authorities
01:34 of Azerbaijan, especially in the war of the President.
01:36 And it was quite a constructive meeting."
01:40 Representatives from the territory have called the talks a charade, saying the discussions
01:44 were imposed following Azerbaijan's show of force.