Armenia on Saturday called for the immediate deployment of a UN mission to monitor respect for human rights and the security situation in Nagorno-Karabakh amid signs that aid could be expected to arrive in the breakaway region under a fragile ceasefire. .

Azerbaijan declared a ceasefire on Wednesday after forcing Armenian separatist forces to accept the full return of Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave recognized internationally as part of Azeri territory but populated mainly by Armenians, to Azeri control. Karabakh Armenians say they fear persecution if they stay.

Azerbaijan has pledged to protect the rights of Armenians, but says they are free to leave if they choose.

“The international community should make every effort to immediately deploy an interagency mission from the UN to Nagorno-Karabakh with the aim of monitoring and evaluating (the respect for) human rights, the humanitarian situation and this security in the region,” noted the minister Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in a speech at the UN, according to a transcript.

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bairamov also noted in his speech at the UN that his country will continue efforts to “promote post-conflict peace building, reintegration and peaceful coexistence.”

Armenia, traditionally backed by Russia, lost a 2020 war with Turkey-backed Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. Yerevan has prepared accommodation for tens of thousands of Armenians from the region, including hotels near the border, although Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan says he does not want them to leave their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh unless absolutely necessary.

Members of the UN Security Council have appealed for peace in the region, with a number of Armenia’s Western allies condemning Azerbaijan’s military operation in the enclave.

As thousands of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians have been left without food, a convoy aided by the International Committee of the Red Cross was heading to the enclave yesterday, Saturday, the first since Baku’s military operation.

Russia has announced that it has delivered more than 50 tons of food and other aid to Nagorno-Karabakh.

Russia, which has 2,000 peacekeepers in the region, said that under the terms of the cease-fire in the region, six armored vehicles and more than 800 small arms, anti-tank weapons and man-portable air defense systems, as well as 22,000 rounds of ammunition, had been handed over as of yesterday.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who held emergency talks with Armenia and Azerbaijan, said in a social media post that “the US will continue its steadfast support for Armenia and its sovereignty and territorial integrity.”