MOSCOW, October 6. /TASS/. A delegation from the Russian Defense Ministry will visit Yerevan on Friday to discuss the terms of withdrawal of the Russian peacekeeping contingent from Nagorno-Karabakh, a diplomatic source has told TASS.

"A delegation of the Russian Defense Ministry will visit Yerevan today. At a meeting with the Armenian side, specific terms of the withdrawal of the Russian peacekeeping contingent from Nagorno-Karabakh will be discussed," the source said.

The Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh is deployed in the region on the basis of a ceasefire statement signed by the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia on November 9, 2020. The duration of its presence was set at 5 years from the moment of signing the agreement, with an automatic extension for another 5-year period, provided none of the parties to the agreement declared 6 months before the expiration of the term the intention to terminate this provision.

On September 19, tensions flared up again in Nagorno-Karabakh. Baku launched a military operation. Yerevan called what was happening "an act of large-scale aggression." Russia called on the conflicting sides to end bloodshed and return to a diplomatic solution. On September 20, an agreement was reached to end combat operations. The next day representatives from Baku and the Armenian population of Karabakh met in the Azerbaijani city of Yevlakh "to discuss reintegration issues."

On September 28, the president of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Samvel Shahramanyan, signed a decree on the termination of its existence starting from January 1, 2024. The population was asked to consider the reintegration conditions proposed by Baku and independently decide whether to stay or go. According to Yerevan, more than 100,000 forced migrants left for Armenia. Until just recently Nagorno-Karabakh had a population of about 120,000.