If Russian peacekeepers had complied with paragraph 4 of the trilateral statement, the Azerbaijani serviceman wouldn’t have been wounded, Azerbaijani military expert Adalat Verdiyev said. Commenting on the fact that an Azerbaijani serviceman was wounded by illegal Armenian armed groups in Karabakh, the expert said that such a situation was caused by the failure of Russian peacekeepers to perform their functions. The expert said that despite the fact that a long time has passed since the incident, the command of the peacekeeping forces did not comment on the incident in the territory under their control.
On July 6, 2021, at about 17:50, illegal Armenian armed groups in the territory of Azerbaijan, where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily stationed, fired at the units of the Azerbaijani army located in the direction of Aliagali village of Aghdam region. According to the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry, as a result of the shooting, Sakit Dadashov, a sergeant involved in road improvement work, was injured. The wounded received first aid and was evacuated to a military hospital. The Russian peacekeeping command and the Turkish-Russian Joint Monitoring Center were informed to investigate the incident.
As a result of the Second Karabakh War, a trilateral statement was signed between the presidents of Azerbaijan, Russia and the prime minister of Armenia on November 10, 2020. According to paragraph 3 of the statement, along the contact line in Nagorno-Karabakh and along the Lachin corridor, a peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation shall be deployed in the amount of 1,960 military personnel with small arms, 90 armored personnel carriers, and 380 units of the automobile and special equipment.
Paragraph 4 of the document states that the peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation shall be deployed in parallel with the withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces. However, recent events show that this requirement of the statement has not been met. Despite that eight months have passed, illegal Armenian armed forces remain in the territories of Azerbaijan where Russian peacekeepers are stationed.
This is not the first case of non-compliance with the requirements of the trilateral statement. It is known that shortly after the statement was signed, on November 26, 2020, Armenian militants committed a terror attack in the Khojavend region of Azerbaijan. According to the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry, Armenian armed groups not only left the territory, but also created combat positions and committed acts of terrorism and sabotage against Azerbaijani civilians and servicemen. As a result, 3 Azerbaijani servicemen were killed and 2 were injured. On December 8, illegal Armenian militants killed one serviceman and seriously injured an Azercell employee during the installation of communication facilities and transmission equipment near the Hadrut settlement of Khojavend region. Thus, after the signing of the trilateral statement, Armenian saboteurs killed four people and wounded three others on the Azerbaijani side in the area controlled by peacekeepers. The Azerbaijani side has sent a letter to the UN secretary-general in this regard. The letter noted that after the trilateral statement dated November 10, Armenia was engaged in activities threatening peace in the region.
On December 13, 2020, the Azerbaijani side conducted a special operation and detained an Armenian armed group of 62 people. The trial of several of them is underway in Baku. In court, the saboteurs admitted that they came to Hadrut in Ural cars passing by Russian peacekeepers. The confession of the Armenian saboteurs proves that the Russian peacekeepers did not fulfill their commitments after the signing of such a statement.
The Russian peacekeepers also proved their disregard for the commitments arising from the trilateral statement by allowing Armenian officials to enter Karabakh through the Lachin corridor. On January 5 this year, former Armenian Foreign Minister Ara Ayvazyan paid a working visit to Nagorno-Karabakh. During the visit, Ayvazyan spoke about strengthening traditional ties between Armenia and the so-called "republic" and signed a "consultation plan." At that time, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry called the provocative activities of Ara Ayvazyan a step contrary to the tripartite statement.
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev noted at the meeting on the results of 2020 that peacekeeping forces allowed illegal visits to Karabakh: “A delegation went there from France, members of their Parliament. Unfortunately, the peacekeepers allowed them to pass through. However, we had told the peacekeeping forces that no foreign citizens could go to Nagorno-Karabakh without our permission.” Ilham Aliyev also mentioned the function of peacekeeping forces: “Now to the peacekeeping forces; they have specific functions there. Those functions were designated on November 10. Although they are currently engaged in humanitarian work there, something not defined by the November 10 statement, we turn a blind eye to that, so to speak. Why? Because we understand that people live there, we realize that winter has come and the weather is cold.”
These above-mentioned facts prove that the Russian peacekeepers didn’t only fail to comply with paragraph 4 of the tripartite statement, but also violated the commitments arising from the statement in various situations.
