MOSCOW, November 12. /TASS/. Participation of Turkish peacekeepers in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement is impossible without approval from Yerevan and Baku, but this issue was not discussed, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Thursday.
"We are still coming from understanding that Russian servicemen will be peacekeepers who are already deployed to the line of contact zone between the parties," Peskov explained. "Meanwhile, cooperation with the Turkish military will be conducted in the framework of the monitoring center which will be located in Azerbaijan."
When asked if Russia is ready to agree to deployment of Turkish peacekeepers in the region, he said that "this topic was not discussed."
"This cannot be a topic for discussion only between Moscow and Ankara. Armenia and Azerbaijan <…> should agree to it," Peskov noted, adding that "there were no such agreements."
When commenting on Ankara’s statements that Turkish peacekeepers will be part of the mission to Nagorno-Karabakh, the spokesman underlined, "we can suppose that there are some differences in understanding."
Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire
Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27 with intense battles in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. On November 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh starting from November 10. The Russian leader said the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides would maintain the positions that they had held and Russian peacekeepers would be deployed to the region. Besides, Baku and Yerevan must exchange prisoners and the bodies of those killed.
On November 10, the Azerbaijani leader’s press service reported that Presidents of Azerbaijan and Turkey Ilham Aliyev and Recep Tayyip Erdogan had discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh situation and creation of the "Turkish-Russian peacekeeping center" in the region.
On November 11, Russia and Turkey agreed to create the Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire monitoring center. The memorandum was signed following videoconference talks between Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar.
Source: TASS
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