Russia's Federation Council (upper house of parliament) has passed a resolution granting consent to the Russian president to dispatch Russian military servicemen to Nagorno-Karabakh starting from November 10.
"To grant consent to the president of the Russian Federation to send military servicemen the Russian Armed Forces with the necessary weapons, military and special equipment to Nagorno-Karabakh starting from November 10, 2020, in accordance with the joint statement by the president of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the prime minister of the Republic of Armenia and the president of the Russian Federation of November 9, 2020, in order to ensure compliance with the agreements on the cessation of hostilities and other hostile actions from the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides to prevent mass civilian casualties and significant damage to civilian facilities," reads the resolution approved by the Federation Council on Wednesday.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko said that the issue of increasing the number of peacekeeping troops in Nagorno-Karabakh was not on the agenda. "The number of Russian peacekeepers was clearly defined in the trilateral statement of the heads of state. We follow what is written there. Such an issue is not on the agenda," TASS cited him as saying.
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. Later, Baku gave Yerevan postponement for troops withdrawal from Kelbajar until November 25.
