Moscow comments on Erdogan`s statement about RPC`s withdrawal from  Artsakh in 2025

ArmInfo. Turkey is not a signatory to the tripartite statement of November 9, 2020, on the  basis of which a Russian peacekeeping contingent (RPC) was deployed in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone. This was stated on July 20 during a weekly briefing by official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, in response to a request to comment on the statement of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that RPC will leave Artsakh in 2025.

She reminded that the tripartite statement of the heads of Russia,  Armenia and Azerbaijan clearly outlines both the terms of the RPC's  stay in Artsakh and the options of its possible extension for another  5 years.

"Russian peacekeepers continue to play an important stabilizing role  in Nagorno-Karabakh. The main function is to maintain the ceasefire  and hostilities. Given the ongoing tense situation in the region, the  activities of the RPC are even more in demand. Maintaining peace in  the South Caucasus is in the interests of not only Azerbaijan and  Armenia, but the regionnaires, as it seems to me, including Turkey,"  Zakharova said.

At the same time, she pointed to the well-coordinated interaction  with Turkish partners within the framework of the joint  Russian-Turkish monitoring center in the Aghdam region.

It should be reminded that on the sidelines of the Vilnius NATO  summit, the President of Turkey said that RPC would leave Artsakh in  2025. He noted that the President of Azerbaijan pays constant  attention to  this issue.