(Baku) Russian soldiers deployed in Nagorno-Karabakh since the fall of 2020 completed their withdrawal from Azerbaijan on Wednesday, announced the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense, almost nine months after Baku’s reconquest of this enclave controlled for three decades by Armenian separatists.
“The process of complete withdrawal of personnel, weapons and equipment of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Azerbaijan was completed on June 12,” the Azerbaijani ministry said in a brief statement, almost two months later the start of departure operations for these Russian soldiers.
The withdrawal, which began in mid-April, was agreed between Russian Presidents Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijani Presidents Ilham Aliev.
In the fall of 2020, a six-week war pitted Azerbaijan and separatists supported by Armenia for control of Nagorno-Karabakh, leaving 6,500 dead.
This war ended in a heavy defeat of the Armenian forces, who had to cede significant territories.
Russia then deployed a peacekeeping force of 2,000 soldiers to enforce the terms of the ceasefire and the withdrawal of separatist troops.
In September 2023, Azerbaijan carried out a new lightning offensive and seized all of Nagorno-Karabakh, without Russian forces intervening, ending three decades of conflict with Armenia for control of the enclave.
The Armenian authorities then strongly denounced the inaction of their Russian ally, long considered the traditional arbiter in the Caucasus, and have since moved closer to the West.
Since then, Baku and Yerevan have increased negotiations and announced in mid-May that they had agreed on the delimitation of part of the common border, a prerequisite before any lasting peace agreement.
In this context, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian had previously approved the restitution of four border villages in the Tavouch region, seized in the 1990s, provoking a major protest movement in his country.
The demonstrators, encouraged by their charismatic leader, Archbishop Bagrat Galstanian, have since daily demanded the resignation of Mr. Pashinian, who came to power in 2018 and is now considered by them as a traitor.
Armenia thus returned the four border villages concerned to its Azerbaijani neighbor at the end of May, with Mr. Pashinian swearing that this decision was aimed at guaranteeing peace with Baku.
The implementation of this agreement, which covers a 12.7 km long border section, is seen by observers as a key step towards a normalization of relations between these rival Caucasian countries after decades of territorial disputes.
Armenia and Azerbaijan faced each other in a first war in the 1990s, a conflict won by Armenia.
