Swiss president to discuss Nagorno-Karabakh with Putin

YEREVAN, June 16. /ARKA/. Swiss President Guy Parmelin, who will have a separate meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin following the Putin-Biden summit in Geneva on June 16, praised Russia for the positive role it played in establishing a truce in Nagorno-Karabakh, Russian news agency TASS reported.

It said Parmelin is going to raise the Nagorno-Karabakh issue during the meeting with Russian President .

"The ceasefire, which holds in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, happened thanks to Russia," Parmelin said at a press conference on Tuesday following his meeting with Biden.

"This issue is a priority. We have foreseen this issue on our agenda tomorrow and hope that this issue will be raised during the discussion," added Ignazio Cassis, Swiss Foreign Minister.

Putin and members of the Russian delegation will hold talks with the Swiss side on June 16 after meeting with Biden.

The meeting of the Presidents of the Russian Federation and the United States will take place on June 16 in Geneva at the Villa La Grange. This will be their first meeting since the inauguration of Biden.

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, apart from several regions, also 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-