Kremlin: withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers from Nagorno-Karabakh  corresponds to current regional realities

ArmInfo. The withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers from Nagorno-Karabakh corresponds to the current  realities in the region. This was stated by spokesperson of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov in an interview with the First Russian TV Channel.

"This corresponds to the current realities that have developed in the  region after Armenia recognized the borders of Azerbaijan as of 1991.  Therefore, the geopolitical realities there have changed, and, in  fact, there are no more functions left for them," Peskov said,  according to Russian mass media.  Last week, the withdrawal of  Russian peacekeepers from Nagorno-Karabakh began. 

The Russian peacekeeping contingent was deployed in Artsakh based on  the results of a trilateral statement signed on November 9, 2020  between the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia. The statement  stopped the war initiated by the Azerbaijani-Turkish tandem against  Artsakh. By the agreements, 1,960 military personnel with small arms,  90 armored personnel carriers and 380 units of automobile and special  equipment were sent there. It was planned to deploy peacekeepers in  the region for five years - until 2025. After last year's September  aggression by Azerbaijan against Artsakh, against the backdrop of the  inaction of the entire international community, and the mass exodus  of Artsakhis, the need for peacekeepers generally disappeared.

The Kremlin has already confirmed the fact that the process of  withdrawing RPC forces from occupied Artsakh has begun. According to  the official Baku, the decision was adopted at the level of the  leaders of Russia and Azerbaijan.