Trilateral talks between Russian and Azerbaijani Presidents Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan have started in the Kremlin.
The face-to-face meeting was initiated by the Russian head of state. As previously reported by the Kremlin press service, the parties plan to review the implementation of the statement of the leaders of the three countries on Nagorno-Karabakh on November 9, 2020, and discuss further steps to solve the problems of the region. Politicians are expected to pay special attention to providing assistance to residents of areas affected by military operations, as well as unblocking and developing trade, economic and transport links.
This is Putin's first international event in 2021 and the Russian leader's first face-to-face talks in two months.
On the situation in Karabakh
The situation in Nagorno-Karabakh escalated on September 27, 2020, with active fighting. Baku and Yerevan have disputed the region's ownership since February 1988, when it announced it was seceding from the Azerbaijani SSR.
Putin, Aliyev, and Pashinyan signed a joint statement on November 9, 2020, on the complete cessation of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh. The document provided for the stopping of the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides in the occupied positions, the transfer of a number of areas under Baku's control and the deployment of Russian peacekeepers along the line as well as the Lachin corridor.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Based on materials from TASS