Russian Peacekeepers to Officially Leave Occupied Artsakh Today

In the coming minutes, a ceremony will take place in Ivanian (Khojaly) to mark the departure of Russian peacekeepers from occupied Artsakh. This information has been reported by Azerbaijani media. Thus, on May 15, the Russian peacekeeping forces stationed in Nagorno-Karabakh will officially leave the occupied region.

Previously, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov announced that Russian peacekeepers had left Nagorno-Karabakh because their functions in the region had been nullified. According to him, this situation arose after Armenia recognized Azerbaijan’s borders. Peskov also added that the decision to withdraw the peacekeepers was made by the leaderships of Russia and Azerbaijan.

It is noteworthy that Russian peacekeepers were deployed in Artsakh following a joint statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. The peacekeeping contingent was initially deployed for a period of five years, after which this period was to be mechanically extended for another five years unless any party declared their intention to terminate this provision six months prior to the expiration.