The Kremlin website published a statement on Nagorno-Karabakh by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The document was signed on Tuesday night.
It says that the parties cease hostilities, remain in their current positions and exchange prisoners. Armenia must return the Kelbajar, Lachin and Agdam districts to Baku. Russian peacekeepers will also be stationed in Karabakh.
Earlier, Aliyev said the Turks would join the Russian troops in the region. There is no mention of Turkey in the published text.
The conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh has been going on since 1988, and in September 2020, the situation escalated - Armenia and Azerbaijan accused each other of unleashing military operations. All the participants announced full or partial mobilization and the fighting began. The situation is aggravated by the fact that Azerbaijan is actively supported by Turkey (NATO member), while Armenia is a member of the CSTO.
In a month and a half, the parties have made three unsuccessful attempts to cease fire. The current document is the fourth.
Pashinyan stated that this decision was extremely hard for him. After the announcement of the agreements protests started in Yerevan, the demonstrators damaged several government buildings.
In his turn, Aliyev called the agreement Armenia's surrender. According to him, what happened was as beneficial to Baku as possible: the military stage was completed and it was possible to move on to political issues.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Creative Commons
Based on materials from RIA Novosti