BAKU, August 14. /TASS/. Azerbaijan hopes that Russia will continue its efforts ensuring security in the region, President Ilham Aliyev said in a televised interview with Turkish channel CNN Turk on Saturday.
"Russia, as a neighbor of Azerbaijan and a close ally of Armenia, certainly plays a special part in this region. It is natural. We hope that Russia will continue its efforts for security in the region and will take measures to ensure lasting peace. At the same time, our expectations are that Russia will not arm Armenia," the President said.
Aliyev pointed out that Azerbaijan informed Russia about its concerns.
"We do not see yet, nor we observe it. There were some statements from Russia. It is an alarming issue," the president noted.
Azerbaijan expects Russia to implement all the provisions of the Karabakh agreement, "since the trilateral statement was signed by the leaders of Azerbaijan, Russia and Armenia," Aliyev added.
"Most of its provisions have already been implemented. But there are some issues that are still open," he concluded.
The highland region of Nagorno-Karabakh has been disputed by Baku and Yerevan since February 1988 when the region announced its withdrawal from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, 2020, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
On November 9, 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh starting from November 10. Under the statement, the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides maintain the positions that they have held and then Armenian forces turn over control of certain districts to Azerbaijan. In addition, Russian peacekeepers were deployed along the contact line and to the Lachin corridor, which links Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia.