MOSCOW, August 24. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan by phone, with the conversation taking place at the initiative of the Armenian side, the Kremlin press service reported on Wednesday.
"The discussion on the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh continued. The importance of the consistent implementation of the trilateral agreements reached by the leaders of Russia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan on November 9, 2020, January 11 and November 26, 2021, was confirmed. The role of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in ensuring stability in the region was also noted," the press service said.
Putin and Pashinyan also touched on some relevant issues on further cultivating the strategic partnership and alliance between Moscow and Yerevan.
In early August, Pashinyan noted that a number of events that have taken place in Nagorno-Karabakh since 2020 raise questions among the Armenian public about the content and nature of the peacekeeping operation in Nagorno-Karabakh. In this context, he pointed out, there is an urgent need to agree on the details of the peacekeeping operation. Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that the situation in the area of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh was deteriorating. According to the ministry, the ceasefire regime was violated by Azerbaijani Armed Forces near Sarybaba heights. The peacekeeping command, together with representatives of the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides, are taking measures to stabilize the situation.
The situation in Nagorno-Karabakh escalated on September 27, 2020. On November 9, 2020, Vladimir Putin, Ilham Aliyev and Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on the full cessation of hostilities. The sides stopped at their positions at that moment, a number of districts went under Baku’s control, and Russian peacekeepers were deployed at the contact line and at the so-called Lachin corridor.