Karabakh, Seven Regions Around It Are Azerbaijan - Putin

Moscow / 17.11. 20 / Turan: Russian President Vladimir Putin said that in October he persuaded Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev to end hostilities in Karabakh, subject to the return of refugees to the city of Shushi (Shusha — ed.), but Armenia opposed that. The head of state announced this on the air of the Russia 24 TV channel.

He said that on October 19-20, he held a series of telephone conversations with both Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. According to Putin, unexpectedly for him, the position of Yerevan "was formulated in such a way that it is unacceptable for them."

"Pashinyan told me directly that he sees this as a threat to the interests of Armenia and Karabakh," the President said.

The head of state added that the situation in Karabakh before the end of the fighting was critical, and it was impossible to hold talks within the OSCE Minsk Group due to lack of time.

At the same time, the refusal of Armenia from the agreement on Karabakh, reached on November 10, would be suicide for the country.

"The Azerbaijani armed forces took control of Shushi. And, as Pashinyan honestly said, the situation was critical for the Armenian side. Counting went on for hours. It was possible Stepanakert (Khankendi — ed.) would be taken, with further movement. In these conditions, it was in the interests of the Armenian side to immediately stop hostilities," he explained.

Therefore, accusations against Pashinyan of betrayal have no basis. According to Putin, in the current situation, the Armenian authorities cannot afford to withdraw from the agreement on November 10. It would be suicide, he said.

   Putin added that in the issue of the deployment of peacekeeping forces, Moscow proceeds from the fact that the number of Russian troops in Karabakh is now sufficient, and an increase in their number is possible only by agreement of the parties.

Putin stressed that the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh has not been settled, while Moscow maintains the status quo.

"What will happen next, this will have to be decided in the future: either the future leaders, or the future participants in this process. But, in my opinion, if conditions are created for a normal life, for the restoration of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, between people at the household level, especially in the conflict zone, it will create conditions for determining the status of Karabakh," the Russian President added.

He recalled that according to international law, Karabakh has always been an integral part of Azerbaijan, and the CSTO could not intervene in this issue, since "no one encroached on Armenia, a member of the organization."

"This did not give us any right to take a direct part in these hostilities," the President stressed.

According to international law, Azerbaijan returned its territories during the war, because the international community recognizes Karabakh and seven regions around it as the territory of Azerbaijan.

Referring to Turkey's participation in the settlement, he noted that Azerbaijan has the right to choose its allies and no one can forbid it. As for the Monitoring Center, where the military of Russia and Turkey will jointly monitor the progress of the peacekeeping operation, it will be located where Azerbaijan considers it necessary.

At the same time, Putin said that he convinced the Turkish President that his military would hardly be able to participate in the peacekeeping operation due to the negative attitude of Armenians towards the Turks.     -02D-