Units of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces entered the Lachin district in Nagorno-Karabakh, the press service of the country's Defense Ministry informed.
"According to the trilateral statement signed by the Presidents of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Russian Federation and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, the units of the Azerbaijani army entered the Lachin district on December 1 (on the night of December 1, the time difference with Moscow is one hour - ed. TASS)," the report says.
Earlier, Armenian armed forces left the Agdam and Kelbajar districts. The joint statement envisaged "the return of the Kelbajar district to the Republic of Azerbaijan" by November 15, the Agdam district by November 20 and the Lachin district by December 1. The deadline for the transfer of the Kelbajar district was later adjusted due to insufficient capacity of the only road leading from the district to Armenia. As a result, the Kelbajar district was handed over to Baku on November 25.
Under the control of the Russian peacekeepers
The trilateral statement of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia also notes that the Lachin corridor (5 km wide), which will provide communication between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia and will not affect the city of Shusha, remains under the control of a peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation.
As representatives of the Russian peacekeeping force's command noted earlier, the transfer of the Kelbajar and Agdam districts was carried out on a regular basis, without incidents or provocations. "The role of the Russian peacekeeping contingent is to ensure the safety of the civilian population in strict compliance with the agreements, ensure the withdrawal of Armenian units from the territory <...>, ensure organized commissioning and control <...> units of the Azerbaijani armed forces," Chief of Staff of the Russian military contingent, Major General Andrey Volkov told journalists, commenting on the process of transfer of the Agdam district to the Azerbaijani side.
In his turn, Major General Igor Konashenkov, the official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry, informing journalists about the process of transfer of the Kelbajar district, noted that the Russian peacekeeping mission was in close contact with local administrations to prevent incidents. In addition, there is continuous interaction with the general headquarters of the armed forces of Azerbaijan and Armenia through direct channels of communication.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Alexander Ryumin / TASS
Based on materials from TASS