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President of Russia: With the determination of the status of Garabagh as the territory of Azerbaijan, the status of peacekeepers has also changed

05 October 2023 19:53 (UTC +04:00)

"Garabagh officially became part of Azerbaijan. This is the position of the modern Armenian state. What can we do?', Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the plenary session of the Valday International Discussion Club, APA's Moscow correspondent reports.

The Russian leader also spoke about the status of peacekeepers in Garabagh.

"The legal status of Russian peacekeepers is without exception based on the November 9 tripartite declaration. No status of peacekeepers was determined. Now I won't say why. Azerbaijan believed that it was not necessary. Therefore, it made sense to sign it without Azerbaijan. Therefore, the entire status of peacekeepers was based on the 2020 statement without exception. The rights of the peacekeepers were only to observe and observe the ceasefire regime. Our peacekeepers had no other rights there. But observing and observing the ceasefire regime, that's all... This situation lasted for some time. In the fall of 2022, the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia gathered under the auspices of the Chairman of the European Council, Charles Michel, with the participation of French President Macron and German Chancellor Scholtz, and signed a statement there. In that statement, it was noted that Armenia recognizes Garabagh as the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan. In addition, the Armenian leadership marked the territory of Azerbaijan in square kilometers, which of course included Garabagh. They noted that they recognize the sovereignty of Azerbaijan within the territory of the Azerbaijan SSR. As is known, Garabagh was also part of Azerbaijan SSR. In fact, the main, absolutely main issue was resolved, which included the status of Garabagh. When Garabagh declared its independence, no one recognized its independence, not even Armenia... To be honest, I find it strange. However, the decision was made, they did not recognize the independence of Garabagh. But in Prague they recognized that Garabagh belongs to Azerbaijan. And then at the beginning of 2023, at a similar meeting in Brussels, they declared it again. Nobody told us about it. I personally learned this from the press. Azerbaijan has always considered Garabagh as its territory. However, Armenia has determined the status of Garabagh as the territory of Azerbaijan. After that, the president of Azerbaijan told me in one of the meetings that "I think everyone has accepted that Garabagh is ours. Your peacekeepers are in our territory." You know, after the status of Garabagh as the territory of Azerbaijan was determined, the status of our peacekeepers changed in quality. The President of Azerbaijan said that your peacekeepers are located in our territory. Let us now discuss their status on a bilateral basis. Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan also confirmed this, yes, you should now agree on a bilateral basis. In other words, Garabagh is gone... Now you can say whatever you want about this status. This was the main issue, everything revolved around it (status - ed) for the past decades. It's over. Armenia solved it. Garabagh officially became part of Azerbaijan. This is the position of the modern Armenian state. What can we do?" Putin added.