Russian peacekeepers begin withdrawal from Karabakh
Russian peacekeepers leave Karabakh
Russian peacekeeping contingent leaves Azerbaijan. Peacekeepers entered Karabakh immediately after the end of the Second Karabakh War, according to a trilateral statement signed by the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Russia. According to this document, the Russian peacekeeping contingent was supposed to remain in the region at least until November 2025.
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“The decision to withdraw Russian peacekeepers from Azerbaijani territory was made by the highest leadership of the two countries,” said Hikmet Hajiyev, assistant to the president of Azerbaijan.
This information was confirmed by Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
For commentary on the developments, the Azerbaijani JAMnews reached out to political analyst Haji Namazov.
Commentary
“The process of withdrawing Russian peacekeepers from Karabakh has begun, and this provides answers to several questions.
Firstly, after the anti-terrorist operation by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces in Karabakh and the disarmament of illegal Armenian armed forces in the region, the peacekeepers no longer had any relevant tasks.
According to the trilateral statement of November 10, 2020, the Russian peacekeeping contingent was supposed to stand between the Azerbaijani and Armenian armed forces. With the absence of the latter, there was essentially nowhere to stand.
Another function of the peacekeepers was to ensure the unhindered operation of the Lachin corridor. After the voluntary departure of the Armenian population from Karabakh, this task naturally became irrelevant.
Secondly, some experts claimed that Russian armed forces would not leave the region easily and would remain in Azerbaijan as a military base or under another pretext. However, this contradicts the country’s laws, which prohibit the presence of military bases of other states on its territory.
Thirdly, the Azerbaijani parliament did not ratify the mandate of the Russian peacekeeping contingent (RPC) for three and a half years, which also created legal issues for the presence of peacekeepers.
Despite the withdrawal of the RPC from Azerbaijan, it remains unclear the schedule for this to occur. No official statements regarding this matter have been made from Baku. The Russian Ministry of Defense has also remained silent.
According to reports on social media, it is apparent that the withdrawal is being carried out by rail. A video surfaced showing a train with the logo of “Russian Railways” departing from Barda to Baku, indicating that it will travel through Dagestan to Russia.
It is worth speculating about the reasons for the start of the withdrawal of the RPC from Azerbaijan. Not long ago, the leadership of the Azerbaijani National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) announced that peacekeepers would participate in demining activities in Karabakh. In other words, they found a job for them. However, not even a month passed before the withdrawal began.
The RPC mission in Karabakh is scheduled to end in a year and a half according to the trilateral statement, provided that the Azerbaijani side expresses its desire not to extend the peacekeepers’ stay by April 2025. Otherwise, the term would have been extended for another five years.
But the process is already underway, peacekeepers are leaving. And perhaps in the near future, we will learn why and how this happened”.
