Putin hails ceasefire between Armenia & Azerbaijan, but warns final status of disputed Nagorno-Karabakh still not decided
Russian President Vladimir Putin asserted, on Tuesday, that the status of Nagorno-Karabakh is still yet to be ultimately determined, despite a recent armistice agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
After six weeks of heavy fighting, Moscow brokered a deal between the warring parties, which agreed that areas captured by Azerbaijani forces are to remain under the control of Baku. Three other regions are also to be given to them Azeris at a later date.
Despite the truce agreement, Putin maintains this is not the final chapter in deciding the destiny of the disputed region.
“The final status of Karabakh has not been settled,” he explained. “We agreed that we will maintain the status quo that exists today, what will happen next is to be resolved in the future.”
Also on rt.com Azerbaijan to demand compensation from Armenia after finding destroyed infrastructure in areas won during Nagorno-Karabakh warAccording to Putin, now that hostilities have stopped and communication lines have been restored, the agreement makes it possible to normalize the situation in the future.
“The most important thing that we managed to do is to stop the bloodshed,” he said. “This is not a movie, this is a tragedy that occurs in life with real people, real families, so the end of the bloodshed is the main result.”
On November 9, the leaders of Russia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan adopted a trilateral agreement on the cessation of fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh. As well as drawing up a new map, the parties also agreed on the deployment of Russian peacekeepers. At the time the truce was signed, Azerbaijan was at a clear advantage. In Putin’s opinion, Yerevan’s refusal to agree to stop the hostilities would have been “suicide.”
On September 27, the frozen Nagorno-Karabakh conflict suddenly erupted once again. The dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia is decades old, with both countries believing they have legitimate claims to the territory. The region is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but is primarily populated by ethnic Armenians. Baku considers the enclave to be illegally occupied by Yerevan.
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