The senators approved the use of Russian armed forces for a peacekeeping mission in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Under the constitution, the Federal Council decides on the introduction of a military contingent, but the Russian peacekeepers are already in the region. Andrei Klishas, the chairman of the Constitutional Legislation Committee, told RIA Novosti that the president had the right to promptly send peacekeepers to Nagorno-Karabakh without the consent of the upper chamber because Russians had died there.
Klishas also reminded that the consent of the Federation Council to use the army, in this case, is necessary, as it is not a matter of operational military situation, but a planned event for several years.
The peacekeeping mandate of the Russian troops in Nagorno-Karabakh is to last for five years, with an option to extend it.
The conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh
This autumn, the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh aggravated. Armenia and Azerbaijan made three unsuccessful attempts to negotiate a ceasefire, and only on November 10, after the Azerbaijani army moved towards Stepanakert, the capital of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, and seized Shusha, the second-largest city in the NKR, the sides concluded a trilateral agreement.
Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan took part in it. Yerevan agreed to cede some of the disputed territories, Baku stopped the offensive and Moscow deployed peacekeepers to prevent further aggravation of the conflict. In addition, a Russian-Turkish monitoring center was set up in Azerbaijan to monitor compliance with the ceasefire.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Russian Ministry of Defense