The tripartite statement on Karabakh made by Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan on November 9, 2020, is extremely important and its significance can hardly be overestimated. This position was expressed in a conversation with reporters on Tuesday by Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the Russian head of state.
"We assess the documents of a year ago as extremely important, as important for both Azerbaijan and Armenia, as documents that allowed to stop the war and take the path of peaceful development of the regional economy and infrastructure," the Kremlin spokesman said, responding to a related press question.
"Russian peacekeepers, the Russian contingent is carrying out its functions [in the region], ensuring security, monitoring the ceasefire, the process of refugee return. This is extremely important. Therefore, it is difficult to overestimate the importance of the signed documents," Peskov stressed.
He also said that contacts between Putin, Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan are not scheduled on the anniversary of the signing of the trilateral statement on Karabakh. "As for communication with Baku and with Yerevan, it comes from Moscow at different levels and exclusively on a regular basis. As for the communication between the three parties, if and when such an agreement is reached, we will inform you. We do not have any specific understanding at the moment," said the press secretary of the Russian leader.
Peskov told reporters on Monday that the exact date of the video link talks between Putin, Aliyev and Pashinyan had not been set, but that work was underway. Earlier the media reported about an alleged meeting of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia scheduled for November 9.
The situation in the conflict zone around Nagorno-Karabakh escalated on September 27, 2020, when active hostilities broke out there. On November 9 of that year, Putin, Aliyev and Pashinyan signed a joint statement on the complete cessation of hostilities in the region. According to the document, the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides stopped at the occupied positions, a number of areas came under Baku's control, and Russian peacekeepers were deployed along the line of contact and the Lachin corridor. After the deployment of peacekeepers, the situation in Karabakh stabilized, and tens of thousands of residents, who had left their homes during the hostilities, returned.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Mikhail Metzel / TASS
Based on materials from TASS