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BAKU, MOSCOW and IEREVAN – The governments of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia announced on Tuesday (Monday in Brazil) that the three countries had signed an agreement to end the Nakorno-Karabakh war, after more than a month of conflict. The agreement consolidates the territorial achievements of Azerbaijan in the Upper Karabakh region (Nagorno Karabakh), territories in plains occupied by Armenians for security reasons, to protect the mountainous and separatist region. The decision infuriated the Armenian population, who invaded the country’s Congress.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said the decision was made “based on an in-depth analysis of the combat situation and discussions with the best experts in the field.”
“This is not a victory, but there is no defeat until one considers himself defeated. We will never consider ourselves defeated and it will become a new beginning of an era of unity and national rebirth,” Pashinyan said on a social network.
The Lachi Corridor, which is the only land link in NK and Armenia (country), will be controlled by Russia for five years after this agreement.
“The signed trilateral declaration will become a fundamental point to resolve the conflict,” Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
First line:Death and despair in Nagorno-Karabakh
Arayik Harutyunyan, leader of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, said in a Facebook post that he approved an agreement “to end the war as soon as possible.”
In a statement, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russian peacekeepers will be deployed along the front line in Nagorno-Karabakh. He said he hopes the agreement “will establish the necessary conditions for a large-scale and lasting solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis.”
Azerbaijan previously said it had captured 48 settlements in Nagorno-Karabakh after announcing that it had advanced towards the enclave’s second-largest city, Shusha, on Sunday. Shusha is on top of a mountain, from where you can see Stepanakert, considered the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia, however, had denied the fall.
The fighting has raised fears of a broader regional war, with Turkey supporting Azerbaijan, while Russia has a defense pact with Armenia and a military base there, despite being close to the Azerbaijani government.
Russian helicopter shot down by ‘mistake’
On Monday, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry apologized to Russia after shooting down a helicopter “by mistake” on the border with Armenia, killing two people and wounding a third on Monday.
After the Russian Defense Minister said that the plane, a model Mi-24, had been shot down, the Azeri government issued a statement in which it claimed that the Azeri security forces struck the vehicle by “accident”, apologizing and saying that he was “ready to pay compensation.”
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry further claimed that the helicopter was flying low at night.
“Before, no helicopters of the Russian Air Force had been seen in the area,” the folder read.
Before Azerbaijan left, the Russian Defense Ministry had said that the helicopter was shot down by a portable air defense system and that it was investigating the case.
