BERLIN, October 10. /TASS/. Germany welcomes the ceasefire agreement reached by Armenia and Azerbaijan on Nagorno-Karabakh and urges the sides to observe the truce, the German Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

"The federal government welcomes the accords on the humanitarian truce between Armenia and Azerbaijan and urges both sides to honor it and avoid further victims," the statement says.

Berlin also welcomes "the readiness stated by both countries to start substantive talks with the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group." Germany stands for work on the conflict’s long-term settlement, the statement says.

Following the consultations on the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh held in Moscow on Russia’s initiative, Azerbaijan and Armenia agreed on a humanitarian ceasefire to start at 12:00 p.m. on October 10 to exchange prisoners and other detainees and bodies of those killed in the conflict.

Baku and Yerevan also agreed to launch substantive talks with the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs with the goal of achieving peaceful settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh as soon as possible. The parties also confirmed the invariable format of the negotiating process.