21st, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov and Defense Minister Shoigu visited Armenia and Azerbaijan. All parties expressed support for the ceasefire agreement in the Naqqa region.
During talks with Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan, Lavrov said that both Russian and Asian leaders supported the current ceasefire agreement in the Naka region, which saved many lives and that any doubts about the agreement were “unacceptable”.
Lavrov also said that his visit was also a demonstration of Russia’s “support” for Armenia.
During the talks, Shoigu said that much more needs to be done to improve and monitor the current ceasefire agreement. The two sides discussed in detail the action plan of the Russian peacekeeping force in the Naka region. Paschinyan said that Armenia hoped to further strengthen cooperation with Russia in the military field.
During his meeting with Shoigu, Azerbaijani President Aliyev expressed his support for the ceasefire agreement now in force and welcomed the deployment of Russian peacekeeping forces in the Naka region. He believes that the ceasefire monitoring mechanism jointly established by Russia and Turkey has played an important role in consolidating regional security, and hopes that the ceasefire will help improve relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
On the evening of the 9th of this month, the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a statement declaring a complete ceasefire in the Naka region from 00:00 Moscow time on the 10th. According to the statement, Azerbaijan and Armenia will exchange the remains of prisoners of war, other detainees and victims, and Russia will deploy peacekeepers in the Naka region.
