On March 26, the Russian Defense Ministry published a statement calling on Azerbaijan to withdraw its troops from Nagorno-Karabakh, with claims that the Azerbaijani army violated terms of the trilateral statement signed by the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry, Zakir Hasanov, expressed regret over the statement. He affirmed that there has been no change in the positions of the Azerbaijani Army in villages such as Farrukh, adding that the country’s corps are in full control of the operational situation.
Hasanov also denied reports that Azerbaijan had violated the trilateral ceasefire agreement.
Political commentator Zardusht Alizadeh spoke with Meydan TV about the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry’s response to his Russian counterpart.
He affirms that the Karabakh conflict is under Russian control, as it has been for 36 years since the 1988 Nargorno-Karabakh War. The country plays a central role in the conflict, confirmed once again by its mediation of the Fall 2020 War ceasefire agreement and deployment of peacekeepers in the region, according to Alizadeh.
The lack of trust between the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders, he argues, prevents them from starting negotiations directly and that is the reason why Russia’s scheme works. However, Alizadeh believes that the escalation of the situation in Karabakh in the current situation is against the interests of Azerbaijan.
Military expert Adalat Verdiyev, on the other hand, believes the Russian Defense Ministry must fulfill its commitment to Baku and Yerevan and its peacekeeping activities in the region. He thinks, however, that the opposite has been done so far.
According to Verdiyev, the activities of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Karabakh for the last 16 months are not satisfactory, leading to the deployment of Azerbaijani troops within its borders in other positions, including the village of Farrukh and nearby hills.
Remembering the declaration of alliance signed at the end of February between presidents Ilham Aliyev and Vladimir Putin, the expert argues that the activities of the Russian armed forces are completely contrary to the plans of alliance, neighborhood, cooperation and peacekeeping activities between Moscow and Baku.
The Fall 2020 armed conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh ended with a full ceasefire agreement, which came into force on November 10, 2020. Russia played an important role as a intermediary between the South Caucasus countries, and established a permanent peace-keeping mission in the region.
