Russia says terms of peacekeepers’ presence in Karabakh to be coordinated with Azerbaijan

MOSCOW (AA) – Russia will decide on the terms of the presence of its peacekeepers in Karabakh together with Baku, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said.

“The timing and other issues of the deployment of Russian peacekeepers in the region will be determined jointly with our colleagues … If we are talking about the territory of Karabakh, then together with the Azerbaijani side, taking into account the situation on the ground,” Zakharova said in response to a question at a news conference in Moscow.

Conflict between Baku and Yerevan started in 1991, when the Armenian military claimed and took over Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

Most of the territory was won back by Azerbaijan during a war in the fall of 2020, which ended after a Russian-brokered peace agreement and also opened the door to normalization.

This year on September 19, the Azerbaijani army initiated an “anti-terrorism” operation in Karabakh to establish “constitutional order” in the region.

Armenian armed forces in Karabakh surrendered after the 24-hour operation, and a cease-fire was reached. Following these events, there was a mass exodus of Armenians from the region.

Azerbaijan, having claimed full sovereignty in the region, has called on the Armenian population of Karabakh to become part of the Azerbaijani society — an offer not met with great enthusiasm in the region.