Putin on Yerevan's refusal to compromise in Karabakh issue

YEREVAN, October 5. /ARKA/. For 15 years Russia had been offering Armenia to compromise and return five districts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan and keep the other two, but Armenia refused, Russian President Vladimir Putin told a Valdai Club meeting today.

"Russia had long offered Armenia ways to resolve the Karabakh issue, but Yerevan refused, expressing readiness to 'fight,'" Putin said.

He noted that Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh could only observe the ceasefire, they had no other mandate.

"The status of Karabakh was a key issue, but Armenia itself recognized it as part of Azerbaijan," Putin said.

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 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.

On September 19, 2023 Azerbaijan launched what it called an "anti-terrorist" operation against ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Artsakh.

The assault lasted 24 hours and ended with Azerbaijani forces gaining full control of the region for the first time since the 1990s war.

This led to a vast refugee crisis, with tens of thousands of ethnic Armenians fleeing along the narrow mountain road connecting the region to the Republic of Armenia. -0-