Putin and Bidden to discuss Nagorno-Karabakh in Geneva

YEREVAN, June 15. / ARKA /. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden will discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict when they meet June 16 in Geneva, Putin's foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, told reporters, Russian news agency TASS reported.

The leaders will meet for the first time since Biden became president as the bilateral relationship stands at the lowest point in years. 

According to Ushakov, nuclear stability, climate change, cybersecurity and the fate of U.S. and Russian nationals who are in prison in each other's countries would be on the agenda. 

He said the presidents will also discuss the Middle East, Syria, Libya, the situation around the Iranian nuclear program, the settlement in Afghanistan, the Korean Peninsula and the Nagorno-Karabakh, and, obviously, Ukraine.

"I'm not sure that any agreements will be reached. I look at this meeting with practical optimism," Ushakov told reporters in comments cleared for publication on Tuesday. 

On September 27, 2020, Azerbaijani armed forces, backed by Turkey and foreign mercenaries and terrorists, attacked Nagorno-Karabakh along the entire front line using rocket and artillery weapons, heavy armored vehicles, military aircraft and prohibited types of weapons such as cluster bombs and  phosphorus weapons.

After 44 days of the war, on November 9, the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a statement on the cessation of all hostilities. According to the document, the town of Shushi, the districts of Agdam, Kelbajar and Lachin and others were handed over to Azerbaijan, with the exception of a 5-kilometer corridor connecting Karabakh with Armenia. 

A Russian peacekeeping contingent was deployed along the contact line in Karabakh and along the Lachin corridor.