Israel welcomes ceasefire between Armenia and Azerbaijan - Ushpiz
Both sides accused one another of breaking the ceasefire almost immediately, and Azerbaijan gave the impression in public comments from top officials that it saw it as only a brief breathing space anyway.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFA view shows a house damaged by a recent shelling in armed clashes on the border between Azerbaijan and Armenia(photo credit: REUTERS)
Alon Ushpiz, director-general for the Foreign Ministry, told Army Radio host Efi Triger Monday morning that Israel welcomes the ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh and intends to pursue relations with both Azerbaijan and Armenia in the following months.Triger also questioned Ushpiz as to whether Israel's arms sales to Azerbaijan should be under inquiry, given the country is a longtime customer of an assortment of Israeli defense companies, buying drones, missiles and other advanced weapon systems. Ushpiz gave no answer.The Russian-brokered ceasefire, clinched after marathon talks in Moscow, was meant to halt fighting to allow ethnic Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh and Azeri forces to swap prisoners and war dead.The talks were the first diplomatic contact between the two since fighting over the mountainous enclave erupted on Sept. 27, killing hundreds of people. Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but is populated and governed by ethnic Armenians.Both sides accused one another of breaking the ceasefire almost immediately, and Azerbaijan gave the impression in public comments from top officials that it saw it as only a brief breathing space anyway.Reuters contributed to this report.
