Russian peacekeepers exit Nagorno-Karabakh, mission ends
10:57 AM EDT, June 12, 2024
Wednesday marked the day the last Russian soldiers left Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense announced the conclusion of the process of withdrawing the Kremlin's peacekeeping contingent.
The Russians withdrew all their personnel, equipment, and weapons from Nagorno-Karabakh. This retreat of the so-called peacekeeping forces marked the end of a mission initiated by the Kremlin in the fall of 2020.
The first Karabakh war, spanning the late 80s and early 90s, ended with a peace agreement in 1994, but in 2020, new clashes erupted, referred to as the Second Karabakh War. Azerbaijan took control of approximately 75 percent of the unrecognized state's territory.
Russians left Nagorno-Karabakh. Peacekeeping mission concluded
After a few weeks, fighting ceased with another agreement mediated by Russia. Supported by Turkey, Azerbaijan regained territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh and the southern part of the disputed region, including Shusha.
Azerbaijan also received permission to connect its territory with Nakhchivan via a corridor, and a corridor was established linking Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia's territory.
On January 1, 2024, the Azerbaijani offensive and the subsequent ceasefire dissolved the state structures of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh. Accordingly, in mid-April, the Kremlin announced the withdrawal of its troops.
This does not mean, however, that the Russian mission ended the over-century-long conflicts. The Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, also known as the 44-Day War, did not resolve the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The region still might be a ticking time bomb.
