On November 21, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense of the Russian Federation Lavrov and Shoigu made rapid visits to Yerevan and Baku.

During the meeting in Yerevan, Lavrov's important statement was the mention at a meeting with Prime Minister Pashinyan of the issue of the return to Karabakh of Azerbaijani refugees who left it in 1992-1994.

In turn, Defense Minister Shoigu called on his Armenian counterpart to strictly observe the November 9 ceasefire and not to allow violation of the ceasefire.

The Defense Ministers of the two countries signed a document regulating the activities of Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh.

This fact raises a well-grounded question - if the peacekeepers are in Azerbaijan, then why are they signing the document with the Armenians? It was expected that a similar document would be signed in Baku, but this did not happen.

At a meeting in Baku, I. Aliyev told Shoigu that "the implementation of the trilateral statement of November 9 is progressing and demonstrates the readiness of both the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides to put an end to the long-term conflict and come to a political settlement."

Aliyev thanked Shoigu and Putin for their participation in reaching an agreement on a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

Aliyev said that Baku “welcomes the deployment of the peacekeeping mission of the Russian Federation, which works in working contact with our structures, and as far as we know, with the Armenian side. I believe that this is an important factor in stabilizing the situation and since the signing of the statement, there have been no serious violations of the ceasefire."

The head of Azerbaijan welcomed the active negotiations between Russia and Turkey on the establishment of a ceasefire monitoring center in Azerbaijan and expressed gratitude to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his participation.

The tone of Aliyev's conversation testifies to the fact that he is satisfied with the processes in the Karabakh region and has no obvious objections. However, it is not known what was said behind closed doors.

In particular, the issue of the presence of Armenian forces in Karabakh, which refuse to disarm and leave Karabakh, has not been clarified.

A similar positive tone was observed at the meeting between Aliyev and Lavrov.

Aliyev noted that the statement of the leaders of the three countries on November 9 "created a new, promising situation in the region." Aliyev noted the great role of Presidents Putin and Erdogan in this and made an important note that the format of the peacekeeping mission meets the fundamental interests of the countries of the region and "the countries of the region should play a leading role in strengthening security."

Aliyev also noted that he was glad that it was possible to reach solutions that would allow both the people of Azerbaijan and the people of Armenia to live in peace and think about a joint safe future.

He also criticized the rest of the Minsk Group members, who were not so active.

Lavrov said he highly appreciates Azerbaijan's position in support of the November 9 statement and the need for reconciliation in the region.

According to Lavrov, Russia is coordinating with Azerbaijan on specific ways of solving humanitarian problems, in the interests of the returning people.

Note that it was on this that Prime Minister Pashinyan focused on Lavrov. He called on Russia to ensure the safety of Armenians returning to Karabakh - moreover, those Armenians who fled from areas controlled by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces. Lavrov avoided a direct answer, stating that all issues would be resolved within the framework of the Humanitarian Center operating in Karabakh.

 

Source - Turan 

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23.11.2020 09:32