By Mary O’KEEFE

Azerbaijan sent troops into Armenian-controlled Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) on Tuesday. Azerbaijan is calling its military measures in Nagorno-Karabakh an “anti-terror” operation and stated it will not stop until the Karabakh’s ethnic Armenians surrender, according to BBC.

On Wednesday morning, ethnic Armenian forces in Nargorno-Karakakh said they had agreed to a Russian proposal for a ceasefire.

“An agreement was reached on the withdrawal of the remaining units and servicemen of the armed forces of Armenia from the deployment zone of the Russian peacekeeping troops, the dissolution and complete disarmament of the armed formations,” Nagorno-Karabakh’s presidential office said in a statement reported by the BBC.

The ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh have been under a blockade for about nine months from Azerbaijan that has kept humanitarian aid from reaching them. There are reports from BBC that civilians have been admitted into hospitals after the attack; however, those hospitals and their staff are stretched due to the blockade that has been in place by Azerbaijan for about nine months. Nagorno-Karabakh authorities have stated 27 people have been killed, including two civilians, and many more have been wounded since the offensive began.

On Tuesday, both Russia’s foreign ministry and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had called on Azerbaijan’s president, Ilham Aliyev, to cease military action immediately.

“The United States is deeply concerned by Azerbaijan’s military actions in Nagorno-Karabakh and calls on Azerbaijan to cease these actions immediately. These actions are worsening an already dire humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and undermine prospects for peace. As we have previously made clear to Azerbaijan, the use of force to resolve disputes is unacceptable and runs counter to efforts to create conditions for a just and dignified peace in the region. We call for an immediate end to hostilities and for respectful dialogue between Baku and representatives of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh,” according to a statement on Tuesday from Blinken’s office.

On Tuesday, Representative Adam Schiff and the co-chairs of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, Representatives Gus M. Bilirakis, Frank Pallone Jr. and David G. Valadao, released the following joint statement in the wake of Azerbaijan’s unprovoked attacks on Artsakh:

“The Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues has warned for months that Azerbaijan was implementing a genocidal campaign against the Armenian people of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) in broad daylight. The large-scale attack by Azerbaijani forces further escalates that campaign, taking advantage of a people they have systematically starved over the last 10 months. It is still too early to tell the full breadth and scale of this attack, but initial reports indicate that Azerbaijan is using deadly force, including heavy shelling, against residential and civilian areas in Stepanakert. According to reports, the attacks have so far resulted in at least 138 injured individuals, including 29 civilians, and 25 fatalities, including one child,” said the Members.

“President Aliyev orchestrated this deliberate attack to exile the Armenian population in Artsakh. The so-called ‘humanitarian corridors’ they reportedly opened for civilians to use to leave the area are only meant to further perpetuate their campaign of ethnic cleansing using violence, hunger and fear to push these people out of their homeland. Armenians have called Nagorno-Karabakh home for thousands of years. The United States should use every diplomatic tool, including sanctions, to help guarantee their right to remain there. We call on the State Department and our international partners to take immediate action to halt any further aggressions by Azerbaijani forces and ensure their safety and security,” the Members continued.