TEHRAN- Armenian-backed separatist forces in Azerbaijan's breakaway flashpoint region of Nagorno-Karabakh agreed to a Russian-brokered ceasefire on Wednesday.

The truce comes 24 hours after Azerbaijani forces began a military operation to restore full control of its territory.

Azerbaijan sent a contingent of troops backed by artillery strikes into Karabakh on Tuesday in an attempt to bring the breakaway region back by force, raising the threat of a new war with its neighbor Armenia.

Baku acted after what it called a series of provocations and after some of its troops were killed in what Azerbaijan said were attacks launched by the separatists from the mountainous region, which Azerbaijan had blockaded for nine months.

Azerbaijan's military operation, which Armenia says left at least 32 people killed and more than 200 injured, was the latest flare-up in the region. 

Russian peacekeepers, along with the separatist forces, evacuated thousands of civilians from the fighting. 

Armenia says it had not dispatched any forces to Karabakh (despite Azerbaijani assertions) and has not intervened militarily since the Tuesday operations by Baku. 

Under the Russian brokered agreement, both sides were to disband and disarm from 1 pm (0900 GMT) on Wednesday.

The agreement also stipulates that talks will start on Thursday to focus on the future of the region and the roughly 120,000 local ethnic Armenian community who reside there. 

The Armenian-backed separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh have confirmed that they are committed to the terms of the ceasefire. 

In a statement, they said that "with the mediation of the command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent stationed in Nagorno-Karabakh, an agreement was reached on the complete cessation of hostilities from 13:00 on September 20, 2023."

"The authorities of the Republic of Artsakh (using the name of the separatists-run region) accept the proposal from the command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent to cease fire," the statement added.

Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry confirmed it had reached an agreement on a truce deal and has concluded its military operation. 

The ministry added that the Armenian separatist forces in Karabakh had agreed to "lay down their weapons, abandon combat positions and military posts and completely disarm", and that all weapons and heavy equipment were being transferred to the Azerbaijani army. 

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said it was "very important" that the ceasefire hold, adding that Yerevan "did not participate in drafting" the ceasefire deal.

The latest hostilities come three years after Azerbaijan recaptured large portions of territory in and around Nagorno-Karabakh in a brief war with Armenia.

The new development could pave the way for Azerbaijan to integrate the ethnic Armenians into its society and to take full control of the mountainous area. 

Analysts say there may now be a large exodus from Karabakh to Armenia, but this is still unclear and remains to be seen. 

Analysts have praised Russia for its years-long attempts to restore peace to a region that has seen two wars between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the past three decades.

Regional countries, including the Islamic Republic of Iran, have repeatedly pushed for a peaceful resolution of the conflict between the two sides and respect each other’s territorial integrity. 

Despite the desire by the United States to create as much trouble for Russia as possible, Moscow appears to have ended another spiral of violence in a highly volatile region. Without Moscow's peacekeeping, the ramifications could have led to another deadly conflict. 

A previous ceasefire agreement brokered by Russia not so long ago was largely holding with the exception of occasional flare-ups.

Some analysts have accused the West of interfering in the region, but by the same token, they have praised the stance of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia to swiftly end the fighting. Azerbaijan was capable of fully taking over the entire Nagorno-Karabakh with military force.