YEREVAN, October 21. /ARKA/. Russia will continue providing all the necessary assistance to Armenia and Azerbaijan to help them normalize their relations, the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova told a press briefing today.
She noted that a trilateral working group set up by the Armenian, Azerbaijani and Russian governments in January to discuss the practical modalities of reopening the transport links between Armenia and Azerbaijan had its 8th meeting on October 20 in Moscow.
“The day before, on October 19, with the assistance of the Russian military, 5 more Armenian captives returned home from Azerbaijan. We welcome this step of Baku and express our hope that the process of returning the detainees will continue,” she said.
The soldiers were flown from Baku to Yerevan by a Russian military transport plane. Dozens of other Armenian soldiers remain in Azerbaijani captivity. So far, 109 citizens of Armenia and 16 Azerbaijanis were repatriated. Some of the Armenian prisoners were returned to their homeland through the efforts of the commander of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh, some – through the mediation of the EU, the USA and Georgia.
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 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.