DM Monitoring
TBILISI: Visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Saturday in Yerevan rejected doubts over a trilateral ceasefire statement centered around the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Lavrov said during a briefing that issues related to the implementation of the ceasefire statement were fully discussed at the meeting with the Armenian leadership, including ensuring the operation of the Russian peacekeeping mission and conducting humanitarian actions.
“All accepted that this statement is the only means for the settlement of the situation, which was very tough several weeks ago. It was stated that all attempts both within the country and abroad at questioning that statement are unacceptable,” Lavrov said, adding that Russia and Armenia had confirmed their determination to do everything to keep the statement in force.
The ceasefire statement was signed by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Nov. 9, in which the three sides agreed on a complete ceasefire in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone starting from Nov. 10. As agreed, Russia is now deploying to the region a peacekeeping contingent consisting of 1,960 servicemen with small arms, 90 armored personnel carriers and 380 vehicles.
Russian peacekeepers will set up 16 observation posts to monitor the ceasefire along the contact line in Nagorno-Karabakh and along the corridor connecting the region with Armenia.
Meanwhile, The Russian peacekeeping mission is maintaining effective control over the ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.
“Our military is maintaining effective control over the ceasefire, which is being observed by both sides,” Putin said at a meeting on Nagorno-Karabakh, according to a Kremlin statement.
“Prompt demining has made it possible to establish reliable communications in the region, and deploying our peacekeeping forces made it possible to stop the bloodshed and avoid more casualties,” he said.
