15:07, 21 December 2023

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 21, ARMENPRESS. Russia is actively working in the direction of unblocking of connection routes in South Caucasus and the signing of a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Russian top general Valery Gerasimov has said.

Gerasimov, the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, said that the situation in the South Caucasus remains tense but has a tendency to stabilize.

“Russia is carrying out active work through political channels in the direction of unblocking of transport connections in Transcaucasia, the signing of a peace treaty between Baku and Yerevan, as well as resolving the most pressing Armenian-Azeri disputes,” the general said at a meeting with foreign military attachés.

Gerasimov claimed that during the Azeri attack in Nagorno-Karabakh in September the Russian peacekeepers accommodated over 10,000 civilians in their deployment bases and then ensured the safe passage of civilians into Armenia. He said that the ceasefire was achieved within 24 hours as a result of the mediation by Russian peacekeepers.

“At the same time, our servicemen continue to fulfil objectives, as guarantors of building peaceful life and return of residents of the region,” he added.