Putin weighs in on Karabakh status, peacekeepers, corridor with Armenia

PanARMENIAN.Net - The territory of Nagorno-Karabakh from the viewpoint of international law is a part of Azerbaijan, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the annual press conference on Thursday, December 17.

PanARMENIAN.Net has singled out the key theses from Putin's statements on Karabakh.

– From an international legal point of view, and I have spoken about it before, all these territories are an integral part of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

– We have always proceeded from the point that the seven regions surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh should be returned to Azerbaijan.

– Armenia itself has not recognized the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh.

–The status of Nagorno-Karabakh should remain unchanged, meaning it should be decided in the future. The status-quo must be maintained.

– It is imperative to create an opportunity for communication between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, through the so-called Lachin corridor, i.e. a communication corridor between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

– The situation [in Karabakh] got out of control. This tension was there for many years. I don't think this happened due to some kind of interference from the outside. Skirmishes and minor clashes have happened many times, which has resulted in [the situation] turning into a conflict.

– Russia's position has always been that we must come to an agreement without bloodshed.

- Russia can increase the number of peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh if all the parties to the conflict consider it necessary. This is a purely technical question. If everyone comes to the conclusion that this is necessary, we will do it. If not, we won't do it.

– We really hope that international mediators will finally turn words into actions and begin to actually provide help to people who need it – first of all, refugees returning to Nagorno-Karabakh – so that not only Russia [assists] by sending humanitarian convoys, but international organizations such as UNICEF, UNESCO, and the UN food organization finally join in.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Russian and Azerbaijani Presidents Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev on November 9 signed a statement to end the war in Karabakh after almost 45 days. Under the deal, the Armenian side has returned all the seven regions surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, having lost a part of Karabakh itself in hostilities.