France, Russia and the United States on Thursday, October 1 demanded an immediate ceasefire between sides to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, calling for a return to negotiations without delay.

“We call for an immediate cessation of hostilities between the relevant military forces,” the three leaders said in a joint statement in their capacity as co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group.

“We also call on the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to commit without delay to resuming substantive negotiations, in good faith and without preconditions, under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs.”

Azerbaijan launched a major offensive against Karabakh (Artsakh) in the morning of September 27, shelling Armenian positions and civilian settlements with large caliber weapons and rocket systems. Armenia and Karabakh have introduced martial law and total mobilization. The Armenian side has reported deaths and injuries both among the civilian population and the military. On September 29, the Azerbaijani army began shelling positions and civilian settlements in Armenia, which resulted in civilian casualty. On October 1, a group of local and international journalists came under Azerbaijan's shelling of civilian settlements. Some of them have sustained injuries.