Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia have signed an agreement to end military conflict over the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. [ Ссылка ] #eudebates #Russia #Turkey #Armenia #Nagorno #Karabakh #OSCE #Azerbaijan #WAR #Borders #EUCouncil #Sarkissian
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called the deal "incredibly painful both for me and both for our people".
It follows six weeks of fighting between Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenians.
The region is internationally recognised as Azerbaijani but has been run by ethnic Armenians since 1994.
A Russian-brokered truce was signed at the end of the war in the early 1990s but there was no peace deal.
Although both sides took steps to reduce tensions last year, fighting erupted at the end of September and several attempts to end the conflict failed.
The new ceasefire agreement prompted anger in Armenia, as protesters stormed the parliament, beating up the speaker and reportedly looting the prime minister's office.
What has been agreed?
The peace deal, which was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenia's prime minister, took effect on Tuesday from 01:00 local time (21:00 GMT Monday).
Under the deal, Azerbaijan will hold on to areas of Nagorno-Karabakh that it has taken during the conflict. Armenia has also agreed to withdraw from several other adjacent areas over the next few weeks.
What are Armenia and Azerbaijan fighting over?
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The BBC's Orla Guerin in Baku says that, overall, the deal should be read as a victory for Azerbaijan and a defeat for Armenia.
During a televised online address, President Putin said that Russian peacekeepers would be deployed to patrol the front line.
Russia's defence ministry confirmed that 1,960 personnel would be involved and reports said planes had left an airbase at Ulyanovsk on Tuesday carrying peacekeepers and armoured personnel carriers to Karabakh. Part of their role will be to guard the "Lachin corridor", which links the Karabakh capital, Stepanakert, to Armenia.
Turkey will also take part in the peacekeeping process, according to Azerbaijan's president, who joined President Putin during the address.
President Putin said the agreement would include an exchange of war prisoners, with "all economical and transport contacts to be unblocked."
There is a mood of national celebration in Baku. At Martyrs' Alley - a memorial to Azerbaijan's fallen soldiers - there are surging crowds among a sea of flags.
There is a real sense here that a key victory has been achieved after a very long fight. Groups are breaking out in chants and singing the national anthem.
Two young students are holding a homemade sign that reads: "Tell the world we are coming home." It is a home they have never seen. Their parents were driven from Nagorno-Karabakh almost 30 years ago, but now they intend to move there to build a new life.
Asked if they could imagine living side by side with Armenians, one replied that this might take decades. "Our children may see this," she told me.
Armenia's prime minister said that his decision had been based on "deep analyses of the combat situation and in discussion with best experts of the field".
"This is not a victory but there is not defeat until you consider yourself defeated," Mr Pashinyan said.
The Armenian leader in Nagorno-Karabakh, Arayik Harutyunyan, said a ceasefire had been unavoidable after the loss of Karabakh's second biggest town, Shusha (known as Shushi in Armenian).
Battles were already taking place on the outskirts of Karabakh's main city, Stepanakert, and if the conflict had continued the whole of Karabakh would have been lost, he said on Facebook. "We would have far more losses," he said.
In the Armenian capital Yerevan, a large crowd gathered to protest against the agreement, according to local media. They broke into parliament and government buildings, shouting "We will not give it up."
Protesters ransacked the prime minister's official residence and Mr Pashinyan said they "stole a computer, a clock, perfume, drivers licence and other items".
Defeat sparks crisis in Armenia
By Yuri Vendik, BBC Russian, Yerevan
It was a night of unrest and upset in Armenia's capital, where crowds of protesters stormed government buildings and the country's parliament.
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