The Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Russia, Jeyhun Bayramov and Sergey Lavrov, have discussed by phone the implementation of the agreement on the ceasefire in Karabakh, the press service of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told RIA Novosti.
"On December 21 of this year, a telephone conversation between Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov took place. The Ministers exchanged views on the implementation of the issues arising from the joint statement of November 10 (on the ceasefire in Karabakh - ed.), as well as the agenda for bilateral cooperation. The sides also discussed regional issues of mutual interest," the press service specified.
At the end of September, hostilities resumed in Nagorno-Karabakh, which became a continuation of the long-standing conflict and resulted in civilian casualties. The parties made several attempts to conclude a ceasefire, but a trilateral agreement reached on the night of November 10 was successful. With Moscow mediating, Azerbaijan and Armenia agreed to a complete cease-fire and to an exchange of prisoners and dead bodies. Yerevan also gave Kelbajar, Lachin and Agdam districts to Baku. In addition, Russian peacekeepers are stationed in the region.
Azerbaijan called the agreement a capitulation of Armenia. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said the document was to the maximum benefit of his country. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan admitted that it was hard for him to accept the peace agreement, but it helped preserve what Karabakh would have lost. After this, protests began in Yerevan demanding the resignation of the head of the government.
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Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry