November 9, 2021 marks one year since the adoption by President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan I.G. Aliyev and Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia N.V. Pashinyan of the Statement on a complete ceasefire and all battles in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. This step made it possible to put an end to the bloodshed and start the process of establishing a peaceful life in the region.
Today we can state that the agreements recorded in the Statement of November 9, 2020 are generally being implemented. At the same time, it is important that Baku and Yerevan remain committed to further implementation and strict observance of all its provisions.
Deployed in accordance with the Statement of November 9, 2020, the Russian peacekeeping contingent makes a significant contribution to stabilizing the situation and ensuring security in the region. Our Azerbaijani and Armenian friends appreciate this.
With the participation of Russian peacekeepers, since December 2, 2020, a total of 122 prisoners of war and detainees have been returned. Of these, 105 were returned to Armenia, and 17 to Azerbaijan. In turn, three packages of minefield maps were handed over to the Azerbaijani side.
The Russian peacekeeping contingent is actively involved in establishing a peaceful life. Humanitarian aid is regularly delivered to the region, territories are cleared (since November 2020, 1,937 buildings have been checked, 2 311.5 hectares of territory and 683 km of roads have been cleared, more than 26 thousand explosive objects have been found). The infrastructure necessary for life is being restored. About 53 thousand refugees returned to their homes.
From December 2020 to June this year, the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry delivered to the region 1,581 tons of humanitarian supplies (power plants, engineering and fire fighting equipment, basic necessities) and 800 tons of construction materials. Work on humanitarian demining has been carried out.
We continue to make efforts to expeditiously address the remaining humanitarian challenges, including the release of all detainees, facilitating the clarification of the fate of all missing persons, handing over the bodies of the dead and providing fully accurate maps of minefields. Ensuring the safety of objects of cultural, religious and historical heritage is also relevant.
We intend, together with our partners, to consistently implement the tasks of unblocking all economic and transport links in the South Caucasus, formulated in the Statement of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia dated January 11, 2021. We highly appreciate the activities of the Trilateral Working Group under the joint chairmanship of the deputy prime ministers of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia. We emphasize the need for an early launch of specific projects based on a balance of interests, which will help to unlock the economic and transport potential of the South Caucasus.
We note the importance of reducing tensions on the Azerbaijani-Armenian state border and launching the process of its delimitation as soon as possible with subsequent demarcation. We are ready to provide all the necessary advice.
We consider it important to continue efforts along the lines of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, first of all, in the context of solving the socio-economic and humanitarian tasks facing the region. The contribution of the ICRC, UNHCR, UNESCO and other relevant international organizations is also in demand.
We will do our utmost to promote the normalization of relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia, support peace initiatives aimed at expanding contacts at all levels on a wide range of issues of ensuring stability, security and economic development of the South Caucasus. We are also ready to facilitate dialogue between representatives of the public of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia with the participation of the Russian Federation in order to create an atmosphere of trust between the Azerbaijani and Armenian peoples.
We are in favor of building good-neighborly relations between the countries of the South Caucasus and their neighbors, the development of mutually beneficial regional cooperation.
