NAGORNO-KARABAKH

Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a Russian-brokered ceasefire agreement to end six weeks of heavy fighting that killed thousands of soldiers and hundreds of civilians on both sides. Crisis Group expert Olga Oliker says while it ended the bloody fighting, the deal is not a comprehensive peace treaty. Azerbaijan, which sees the deal as a victory, will remain in control of the territory it has taken by force. Armenian forces have begun a phased withdrawal from territories adjacent to Karabakh, which will be handed over to Azerbaijan, as well as from Karabakh itself, where Russian peacekeepers are deploying. Still to be clarified is how Karabakh will be governed, what refugees and IDPs can return where, and whether and how Turkey and Azerbaijan will lift their decades-long blockade of Armenia, as called for by the deal.