YEREVAN, January 11. /ARKA/. After protracted four-hour talks with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the signing of a joint statement aimed at developing the region
“I consider today’s meeting extremely important and useful, because we were able to agree on and signed a joint statement on the development of the situation in the region. I mean concrete steps to build economic ties, develop infrastructure projects. For this purpose, a working group will be created, headed by vice-prime ministers of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia,” Putin said at a press briefing following the trilateral meeting.
According to him, they will set up working expert subgroups in the near future, present concrete plans for the development of transport infrastructure and the region’s economy.
“I am sure that the implementation of these agreements will benefit both the Armenian and Azerbaijani people, and without any doubt, will benefit the region as a whole, and hence the interests of the Russian Federation,” Putin said.
He noted that the Russian peacekeeping group fully fulfills its obligations to both sides.
“As I said at the beginning of our meeting today, over 48 thousand displaced persons and refugees have already returned to Nagorno-Karabakh. Persistent work is underway to restore infrastructure, energy, housing, social infrastructure,” Putin said.
On September 27, 2020, Azerbaijani armed forces, backed by Turkey and foreign mercenaries and terrorists, attacked Nagorno-Karabakh along the entire front line using rocket and artillery weapons, heavy armored vehicles, military aircraft and prohibited types of weapons such as cluster bombs and phosphorus weapons.
After 44 days of the war, on November 9, the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a statement on the cessation of all hostilities. According to the document, the parties stopped at where they were at that time. The town of Shushi, the districts of Agdam, Kelbajar and Lachin were handed over to Azerbaijan, with the exception of a 5-kilometer corridor connecting Karabakh with Armenia.
A Russian peacekeeping contingent was deployed along the contact line in Karabakh and along the Lachin corridor. Internally displaced persons and refugees are returning to Karabakh and adjacent regions, prisoners of war, hostages and other detained persons and bodies of the dead are being exchanged.–0-