A ceasefire agreed by Armenia and Azerbaijan came into effect Saturday at noon local time (7PM AEDT) to end nearly two weeks of heavy fighting over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Armenian and Azerbaijani forces accused each other of bombing civilian areas on Saturday morning ahead of the ceasefire.
The region's ombudsman Artak Beglaryan said Azerbaijan had fired missiles on civilian areas of its main city Stepanakert, which has been under regular rocket and artillery fire.
"Baku uses the same style of #WarCrimes by the very last moment," Artak Beglaryan said on Twitter, adding that there was no information yet on casualties.
An AFP journalist in the city reported hearing two explosions in the morning, after Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to the ceasefire from noon Saturday (0800 GMT).
Azerbaijan's defence ministry said Armenian forces were shelling civilian areas of the country.
"Armenian armed forces are intensively shelling populated areas in Geranboy, Terter, Agdam, Agjaberdi, and Fizuli districts. Azerbaijan is taking reciprocal measures," the ministry said in a statement.
Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to the ceasefire in the early hours of Saturday, after 11 hours of Russian-mediated talks in Moscow.
The bitter fighting in the Caucasus region has claimed hundreds of lives, forced thousands to flee, and stirred fears of a full-blown war that could suck in regional powers Turkey and Russia.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the two sides had agreed at the talks to begin "substantive negotiations" to end the conflict over Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian enclave that broke away from Azerbaijan during a war in the 1990s that claimed some 30,000 lives.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed to AFP that the ceasefire would begin from noon Saturday.
During the ceasefire - mediated by the International Committee of the Red Cross - the parties will exchange dead bodies and prisoners, Mr Lavrov said, reading from a statement.
Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan during trilateral talks. Source: AAP
"Concrete parameters of the ceasefire will be agreed separately," the statement said.
Russia's top diplomat also said that Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to start seeking a lasting solution to the territorial dispute.
"Azerbaijan and Armenia begin substantive negotiations with the purpose of achieving a peaceful settlement as soon as possible," Mr Lavrov told reporters, adding that such talks will be mediated by the Minsk Group of international negotiators.
Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and his Azeri counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov did not speak to reporters.
Fledgling mediation efforts
Renewed fighting over Karabakh - an ethnic Armenian region of Azerbaijan that broke from Baku's control in a devastating war in the early 1990s - has claimed some 400 lives and forced thousands of people from their homes.
The heavy clashes erupted late last month, with both sides blaming the other for the biggest outbreak in violence since a 1994 ceasefire left the status of Karabakh in limbo.
The region's declaration of independence has not been recognised by any country - even Armenia - and the international community regards it as part of Azerbaijan.
The Kremlin said late on Thursday that following a series of calls with Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Russian President Vladimir Putin had invited their foreign ministers to Moscow and called for an end to hostilities "to exchange dead bodies and prisoners".
Mr Putin's announcement of the talks came shortly after international mediators from France, Russia and the United States launched their first efforts to resolve the fighting in Geneva.
The countries make up the "Minsk Group" that has sought a solution to the Karabakh conflict for decades but have failed to stop sporadic outbreaks of fighting.
The negotiations in Geneva went ahead without Armenia, which refused to participate while the fighting was ongoing, and there were no public statements following the closed-door talks.
Mounting civilian toll
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin during a visit to Yerevan reiterated that Russia was prepared to help bring about peace alongside Minsk Group members.
"It's important to make sure that all hostilities are halted and to start a diplomatic settlement of the conflict," he said.
Since the fighting restarted both sides have accused the other of shelling areas populated by civilians and thousands of people have been displaced by the clashes.
Stepanakert is dotted with damaged buildings and unexploded ordnance following days of shelling. AFP journalists have also witnessed destruction in villages in Azerbaijan near the front line.
Armenia accused Azerbaijan on Thursday of hitting the iconic Ghazanchetsots (Holy Saviour) Cathedral leaving a gaping hole in its roof and several journalists injured.
Armenia's rights ombudsman Artak Beglaryan told AFP this week that the renewed fighting has displaced around half of Karabakh's 140,000 residents and forced some 90 percent of its women and children from their homes.
A man walks in rubble of the Ghazanchetsots (Holy Saviour) Cathedral in Shusha, some 15 kilometres from the Nagorno-Karabakh province's capital Stepanakert. Source: AAP
Dozens of civilians have been confirmed killed and the Armenian side has acknowledged 350 military deaths, while Azerbaijan has not admitted to any fatalities among its troops.
Turkey's strong backing for Azerbaijan has sown fears in the West that the conflict could spiral into a full-blown war embroiling Ankara and Moscow, which has a military treaty with Armenia.
Mr Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron are among the world leaders to denounce the reported deployment of pro-Turkish fighters from Syria and Libya to Karabakh and Iran this week warned of "terrorists" who had joined the conflict from abroad.
