BAKU, November 18. /TASS/. Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry has described Putin’s signature as a guarantee the latest agreements on Nagorno-Karabakh are irreversible.
"The personal role of the Russian president and his signature to the trilateral statement are an exceptionally important contribution to the peace process and a guarantee this process will not be reversed," the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry’s press-service has said.
About Putin’s interview, in which he spoke about the de-escalation of the crisis, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said that "Baku appreciates the efforts that the Russian side has been exerting for the sake of a settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict."
"Russia is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, a country that borders on our region and has old-time historical bonds with it. This explains Russia’s direct interest in strengthening security, stability and peace in the South Caucasus," the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said.
The commentary points out that Baku "entirely shares" the Russian president’s point of view in that the end of bloodshed was an important achievement of the trilateral statement. "From the very beginning of the war the Azerbaijani side has always and entirely supported the international community’s calls for ceasefire," the commentary runs.
Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Baku and Yerevan have disputed sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh since February 1988, when the region declared secession from the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic. In the armed conflict of 1992-1994 Azerbaijan lost control of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjoining regions.
On November 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh starting from November 10. The Russian leader said the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides would maintain the positions that they had held and Russian peacekeepers would be deployed to the region.