ArmInfo. Russian President Vladimir Putin invited Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to discuss new steps in key areas of settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh, TASS reports.
"Today it would be important, first of all, to outline the next steps in the key areas of settlement, outlined in the joint statement of November 9 last year. I mean the issues related to the activities of the Russian peacekeeping contingent, clarification of demarcation lines, solution of humanitarian problems, protection of cultural heritage, "Putin said.
The President stated that the agreements on Karabakh are being consistently implemented, this creates preconditions for the settlement of the conflict on a fair basis. "Today we can state with satisfaction that the trilateral agreements are being consistently implemented. In our opinion, this creates the necessary preconditions for a long-term and full-scale settlement of the long-standing conflict on a fair basis in the interests of both the Armenian and Azerbaijani peoples," he said.
According to the Russian president, the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh remains calm, 48 thousand refugees have already returned to the region. "Now the situation in the region is calm. We are doing a lot for the safe return of internally displaced persons and refugees. Over 48 thousand people have already returned to Karabakh since November 14 (2020)," the Russian head of state said.
The Russian leader noted that the task of "unblocking economic, trade and transport links in the region, opening borders" deserves special attention. "It is assumed that these issues will be dealt with by a special trilateral working group chaired by the Deputy Prime Ministers of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia," Putin said.