Armenia on Monday signed a peace deal with its rival Azerbaijan, relinquishing large parts of Azerbaijani territory previously controlled by the ethnic Armenian forces of Nagorno-Karabakh. The breakaway region’s leader, Arayik Harutyunyan, who signed the truce too, addressed the development on Tuesday, acknowledging the military defeat in a TV address.

He said the concessions made to Azerbaijan prevented a total loss of Nagorno-Karabakh, which would have happened in a matter of days, had the hostilities continued. The defending forces were exhausted by a Covid-19 outbreak and more than 40 days of fighting and being outgunned by their opponents, Harutyunyan said. Turkish drones and mercenaries from the Middle East fighting for Azerbaijan had turned the tide of the battle, he said.