MOSCOW, November 13. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed an executive order to create an inter-agency humanitarian response center for Nagorno-Karabakh, the Kremlin press service reported Friday.

"The inter-agency center will include representatives of the Ministry of the Russian Federation for Civil Defense, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters, the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation, the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation as well as representatives of other interested federal bodies of the executive power. The Defense Ministry of the Russian Federation is tasked with resolution of organizational and other issues related to the creation and activities of the inter-agency center," the document reads.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is counting on international support for the work of the Russian inter-agency center in Nagorno-Karabakh.

"I ask the Russian Foreign Ministry to continue work to inform the OSCE Minsk Group partners about the decisions made as well as the International Committee of the Red Cross <…> and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights," the leader told a meeting for humanitarian issues in Nagorno-Karabakh. According to the Russian president, "constructive and full-scale work should be established with these agencies, particularly with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and UNESCO; we should come in contact with colleagues in UNESCO." "I am counting on their support," Putin noted.

Goal behind creating the center

According to the president, the center is created to address the most pressing problems. "The center will provide operational support for the process of resettling refugees to their permanent homes and will cooperate with state agencies of Azerbaijan and Armenia to restore civilian infrastructure and lay down conditions for normal life in Nagorno-Karabakh," the president noted.

The center’s functions include coordination of work of state agencies. Putin expressed hope that the center will also work with civil organizations to provide humanitarian aid to citizens of districts ravaged by hostilities.

Moreover, the center is ready to help state agencies of Azerbaijan and Armenia "in establishing cooperation with international humanitarian organizations and between each other" if they require such help. "I think that this help will be very apt, considering the difficult history of relations between the countries," Putin added.