As the war over the ethnic Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh continues between Armenia and Azerbaijan,the push for a cessation of hostilities accelerated this week. But that's hard to tell on the ground.With the support of the Pulitzer Center, special correspondent Simon Ostrovsky reports.The fighting here is approaching its fourth week, despite attempts by Moscow to mediate.Hundreds are dead, thousands displaced, here on the southeastern fringe of Europe.Yesterday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made another offer after Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed last week to a cease-fire that did not cease fire.All the agreements that have been discussed lately, which were being taken seriously by the parties,assume the relinquishment of five districts and peacekeeping troops.At issue are seven districts of Azerbaijan that surround the Nagorno-Karabakh region that have been under the control of ethnic-Armenian forcessince the first war here between the former Soviet Republicans ended in 1994, after the USSR dissolved.The de facto authorities in Karabakh have long contended that they need to hold on to these areas in order to retain their link with Armeniaand as a security buffer with Azerbaijan. But that calculation may have changed,as ethnic Armenian forces sustained heavy losses in this new round of fighting that began with an Azerbaijani surprise attack on September 27.
