Russian forces are deployed in the capital of Nagorno Karabakh, the day after Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a ceasefire agreement
Russian peacekeepers took control of the outskirts of Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno Karabakh, on Friday morning and guarded the road leading to the close contact line between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces, according to an AFP journalist.
Dozens of soldiers and at least three armored vehicles were deployed at a checkpoint on the southwestern exit of the city controlled by Armenian forces, on the road leading to the town of Shusha, about ten kilometers away, which was controlled by Azerbaijani forces last week.
A Russian flag fluttered over the site where Armenian soldiers were helping to regulate the movement of vehicles.
“We check passports and make sure that there are no weapons in the vehicles, without obstructing them,” one of the Russian soldiers told AFP.
Five kilometers to the south, on the same road, another Russian checkpoint, backed by armored vehicles, was set up.
Throughout the area, the situation was calm as Russian and Armenian soldiers chatted quietly.
Some of the passengers of the vehicles crossing the checkpoint even offered some bread, candy or cigarettes to the Russian soldiers, who printed on their uniforms and the flags of their armored vehicles the first two letters of the phrase “peace soldiers” in Russian.
At the beginning of the week, Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a ceasefire agreement under Russian auspices that put an end to the conflict that began at the end of September in Karabakh.
This agreement confirms significant gains that Azerbaijan has obtained, and provides for the handover of additional territories to Baku.
Waiting for the full deployment of Russian forces and the reopening of the Lachin corridor that connects Armenia with the enclave, the only road leading to Nagorno Karabakh is the road that passes north of the pocket, through the Kalbjar region scheduled for delivery on Sunday to Azerbaijan.
