Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree on measures to maintain peace in Nagorno-Karabakh. The document was published on Thursday on the official portal of legal information.
According to the decree, a military contingent of the Russian Armed Forces, numbering up to 1,960 servicemen, will be sent to Nagorno-Karabakh for a period of five years with an automatic extension of its stay for a subsequent five-year period, if, six months before the expiration of the corresponding five-year period, Azerbaijan and Armenia do not declare their intention to stop compliance with the agreements reached. Russia will also have 90 armored trucks, 380 cars and other equipment in Karabakh.
The peacekeeping contingent will be deployed in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, along the line of contact in Nagorno-Karabakh and along the Lachin corridor.
The Federal Security Service has been instructed to monitor the transport links between the western regions of Azerbaijan and the Nakhijjevan Autonomous Republic for the unhindered movement of citizens, vehicles and cargo in both directions.
Putin also instructed the government to provide funding for the costs associated with the implementation of peacekeeping activities, provision of material support to the military personnel and payment of monetary allowances, including additional guarantees and compensation to members of their families.
Russia will replace peacekeepers in Karabakh with new troops at least twice a year. The Defenсe Ministry is expected to replace equipment based on the technical needs and the items' condition.
The decree takes its force from the day of its signing.
The Armenian armed forces committed a large-scale provocation, subjecting the positions of the Azerbaijani army to intensive shelling from large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery installations of various calibers in the front-line zone on Sept. 27 at 05:00 (Msk). The command of the Azerbaijani Army decided to launch a counter-offensive operation of Azerbaijani troops along the entire front to suppress the combat activity of the Armenian armed forces and ensure the safety of the civilian population. To date, Shusha, Fizuli and Jabrayil districts, including the cities of Jabrayil and Fizuli, the city of Zangilan and part of Zangilan district, part of the Gubaldi region, the city of Gubadli, the city of Hadrut, and a number of villages in the Khojavend region, the villages of Sugovushan and Talish in the Terter region, as well as the strategically important Murovdag mountain were liberated.
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. The Russian leader said the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides would remain on the positions they hold and Russian peacekeepers would be deployed to the region. Besides, Armenia and Azerbaijan should carry out the exchange of prisoners of war and the bodies of those killed. Aghdam region will be returned to Azerbaijan before November 20, Kelbajar region - before November 15, Lachin region - before December 1.
