BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 3
Trend:
Russian authorities decided to restrict entry for Karabakh separatists Masis Mayilyan and Samvel Babayan to Russia for five years, Trend reports on March 3 referring to the Armenian media.
“This information was disseminated in the evening of March 2,” the message said. “This information was not officially confirmed or refuted for the media outlets due to the late time.”
“The decision is based on political and, perhaps, legal grounds,” the report said.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.