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Moscow (AFP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that the peace accord negotiated between Armenia and Azerbaijan under his auspices allows laying the foundations for “permanent normalization” in Nagorno Karabakh, even if the “problem” of the status of this region is not resolved.
“Just to stop hostilities and reach an agreement to open all means of transport and restore economic relations, this is very important and constitutes a good basis for the normalization of long-term relations,” Putin told public television. Russian.
Putin acknowledged that “the final status in Nagorno-Karabakh has not been resolved” and that the agreement signed last week between Yerevan and Baku only contributes to “preserving the situation as it is” in the vicinity of the region disputed for decades.
“Yes, there is such a problem. What will happen next will be decided in the future or by the new leaders who will participate in this process,” he said, adding that “the conditions for normal life have been created” in Nagorno Karabakh.
The peace agreement negotiated by Moscow allowed the cessation of six weeks of bloody battles between Armenian separatists and the Azerbaijani army for control of this mountainous region of the Caucasus.
The agreement recognizes Azerbaijan’s military victory and the acquisition of large areas in this region inhabited exclusively by Armenians, after Azerbaijanis fled Nagorno-Karabakh after the first war in the 1990s.
The agreement also provides for the deployment of a Russian peacekeeping force in Nagorno-Karabakh, which arrived in the region last week.
According to Putin, Turkey, which supports Baku, will participate in the peacekeeping operation through a joint monitoring center with Russia that will use drones, but Turkish soldiers will not be deployed in Nagorno Karabakh.
© 2020 AFP
