Russian foreign minister to visit Armenia and Azerbaijan

YEREVAN, April 29. /ARKA/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will visit Yerevan on May 5-6 and Baku on May 10-11, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said at a press briefing today.

She said Lavrov is scheduled to have negotiations with the leadership of Armenia and Azerbaijan for a thorough consideration of a wide range of issues of bilateral and regional cooperation, as well as interaction in the international arena," she said.

Zakharova noted that priority attention will be paid to the practical aspects of the implementation of the statement of the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan dated November 9, 2020 and January 11, 2021

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 parties stopped at where they were at that time. 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. -0-