Vladimir Putin will hold talks with Ilham Aliyev on October 12

On October 12, Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold talks with the head of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev. Negotiations will take place in Bishkek. Assistant to the Russian President Yuri Ushakov told reporters about this. The meeting will take place on the eve of the meeting of the Council of CIS Heads of State, which will take place in Kyrgyzstan. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will not come to the summit in Bishkek.

Russia attaches great importance to negotiations with Aliyev, Ushakov noted. According to him, Russian-Azerbaijani relations are “at a high level and are developing dynamically.” The presidents will exchange views on the prospects for further development both in the economic field and in the implementation of joint initiatives in the transport, logistics, energy, and industrial sectors, he said.

“And, of course, [Путин и Алиев] will discuss issues related to the situation around Karabakh. On the agenda is the peaceful integration of Karabakh Armenians into the legal field of Azerbaijan, while respecting internationally recognized rights and freedoms. And the Russian peacekeeping contingent is ready to contribute to this,” he said. Putin will discuss the situation around the peacekeepers with Aliyev. Ushakov recalled that the peacekeepers’ mandate expires in 2025: “And various options for the possible further use of our contingent are being considered, including in the context of ensuring the possible return of Karabakh Armenians to the places of residence that they left after the well-known events in September.”

Ushakov said that he knows why Pashinyan will not come to Bishkek: “But, probably, he will explain it himself. But he won’t participate.” Telephone conversations between Putin and Pashinyan took place on October 7 (on the same day Putin had a telephone conversation with Aliyev), Ushakov recalled, and contacts will continue. “If Pashinyan had arrived, then I give a 100% guarantee that a meeting with him would have been organized,” Putin’s aide noted.

The press service of the President of Kyrgyzstan reported on October 10 that Nikol Pashinyan, in a telephone conversation with the President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov, said that he would not be able to take part in the summit of CIS heads of state in Bishkek. “The Prime Minister of Armenia expressed regret that he would not be able to attend the meeting of the Council of CIS Heads of State due to a number of circumstances,” the press service of the President of Kyrgyzstan reported.

On September 19, 2023, Azerbaijan announced the start of “anti-terrorism measures” necessary for the “restoration of the constitutional order” in Nagorno-Karabakh. The next day, Karabakh authorities announced the conclusion of agreements on a complete ceasefire. On September 21, negotiations were held in Yevlakh between the delegation of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh and representatives of the Azerbaijani authorities.

On the same day, Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation about the situation in the region with Nikol Pashinyan, and on September 21 – with Ilham Aliyev, who then apologized and expressed deep condolences over the death of Russian peacekeeping troops in Karabakh on September 20.

On September 28, 2023, NKR President Samvel Shahramanyan signed a decree on the termination of the existence of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic from January 1, 2024. As stated by the press secretary of the Prime Minister of Armenia Nazeli Baghdasaryan, by the evening of October 3, 100,625 internally displaced persons arrived in Armenia from Karabakh ( of the declared NKR population 120,000 people).

On October 5, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, in Spanish Granada, together with the leaders of France, Germany and the EU, signed a declaration once again recognizing Nagorno-Karabakh as the territory of Azerbaijan – this corresponds to the recognition of the integrity of this country with an area of ​​86,600 square meters. km. Aliyev refused to go to the event due to the harsh rhetoric of the French against Baku and the refusal to allow a Turkish representative to the meeting. However, a similar document was signed in 2022 with his participation in Prague, when the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan declared their commitment to the Almaty Declaration of December 21, 1991, which refers Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, it was this event that became key for the future fate of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh. Later, on October 6, Michel said that Aliyev and Pashinyan had agreed to take part in a trilateral meeting to be held at the end of October in Brussels.