Russia hopes UNESCO mission to arrive soon in Nagorno-Karabakh region

4 December 2020 10:18 (UTC+04:00)

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Russia hopes that UNESCO experts will soon arrive in the Nagorno-Karabakh region to assess the preservation of Christian and Muslim shrines, Spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on Dec. 3, Trend reports with reference to TASS.

"We expect that the mission, which has been prepared in cooperation with the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides with the participation of authoritative international NGOs - partners of UNESCO in the field of protection of monuments, will soon be able to arrive at the site and give an objective assessment of the situation," Zakharova said.

Following over a month of military action to liberate its territories from Armenian occupation, Azerbaijan has pushed Armenia to sign the surrender document. A joint statement on the matter was made by the Azerbaijani president, Armenia's PM, and the president of Russia.

A complete ceasefire and a cessation of all hostilities in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is introduced at 00:00 hours (Moscow time) on 10 November 2020.

Armenian Armed Forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front.

Back in July 2020, the Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As a result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian Armed Forces.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, the Armenian Armed Forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.