Russian, Azerbaijani foreign ministers discuss Karabakh peacekeeping contingent

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov discussed in a phone conversation on Sunday the deployment of a Russian peacekeeping contingent to Nagorno-Karabakh, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

“As a follow-up to the contacts between [Russian and Azerbaijani] Presidents Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev the ministers considered in detail the implementation of the November 9 joint statement of the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia and the Russian Federation on a ceasefire and halting all military actions in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone,” the ministry stated.

Special attention was paid to coordinating practical steps of the parties to the joint statement in the context of deploying a peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Armed Forces and streamlining its work “on the ground.”

Lavrov also informed his Azerbaijani counterpart about key aspects of an effort on setting up the inter-agency humanitarian response center in Nagorno-Karabakh. The two ministers confirmed the need for an active involvement of international organizations, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Development Program, UNESCO and the International Committee of the Red Cross, “in order to facilitate post-conflict restoration, solve humanitarian tasks and preserve religious and cultural heritage in the region.”

On November 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh starting from November 10. The Russian leader said the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides would maintain the positions that they had held and Russian peacekeepers would be deployed to the region. Besides, Baku and Yerevan must exchange prisoners and the bodies of those killed.

On November 13, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on creating an inter-agency humanitarian response center for Nagorno-Karabakh. It will include representatives of the Ministry of the Russian Federation for Civil Defense, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters, the Foreign Ministry, the Federal Security Service as well as representatives of other interested federal bodies of the executive power.

The center’s tasks will include facilitating the process of returning refugees, cooperation with the state bodies of Azerbaijan and Armenia on restoring the civilian infrastructure and creating conditions for a normal life in Nagorno-Karabakh.