Azerbaijani, Russian FMs mull implementation of Karabakh peace deal

By Azernews

By Vafa Ismayilova

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov have discussed the implementation of a trilateral agreement signed by Azerbaijan, Russia and Armenia on November 10, 2020 to end the war in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The two ministers exchaged their views in a telephone conversation on December 2, 2020, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry reported in its website.

The ministers also focused on other regional and international issues of mutual interest.

The 44 days of war in and around Nagorno-Karabakh ended with the Russian brokered peace deal signed on November 10 by the Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian leaders. Under the peace agreement Azerbaijan’s Kalbajar, Aghdam and Lachin regions were vacated by the Armenians by December 1. The agreement also envisages the return of Azerbaijani IDPs to Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh and the seven adjacent regions under the control of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

The clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan resumed after Armenia launched large-scale attacks on Azerbaijani forces and civilians on September 27. Five Azerbaijani civilians were killed in the first day of the Armenian attacks. Over 90 Azerbaijani civilians were killed in Armenian's indiscriminate attacks on Azerbaijani civilians. Azerbaijan launched counter-offensive operations that ended in the liberation of over 300 settlements, villages. Azerbaijan also liberated five city centres and the historic Shusha city that was liberated on November 8.  

The peace agreement ended the 30-years-old conflict between Baku and Yerevan over Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region that along with the seven adjacent districts came under the occupation of Armenian armed forces in the war in the early 1990s. For about three decades, Armenia failed to implement the UN Security Council resolutions demanding the withdrawal of the Armenian troops, which was the main obstacle to the resolution of the conflict.