Defence chief receives new Russian peacekeeper commander
By Vugar Khalilov
Azerbaijani Defence Minister Zakir Hasanov has received the new commander of the Russian peacekeeping forces temporarily deployed in Azerbaijan, Lt-Gen Gennady Anashkin, the Defence Ministry reported on September 28.
The sides discussed the latest situation on the Azerbaijani territories, where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily deployed, the report added.
It should be noted that the first commander of the Russian peacekeeping forces Lt-Gen Rustam Muradov also attended the meeting.
Lt-General Anashkin is the third commander of the Russian peacekeeping forces in Azerbaijan, who was appointed to this post on September 25, 2021.
About 2,000 Russian peacekeepers have been deployed for five years in Karabakh under the trilateral cease-fire deal signed by Baku, Moscow and Yerevan on 10 November 2020. The signed agreement obliged Armenia to withdraw all its troops from the Azerbaijani lands that it had occupied since the early 1990s.
The deal also stipulated the return of Azerbaijan's Kalbajar, Aghdam and Lachin regions. Before the signing of the peace deal, Azerbaijan liberated 300 villages, settlements, city centers, and historic Shusha city that had been under Armenian occupation for about 30 years.
On August 11, 2021, Azerbaijan urged the Russian peacekeepers to end the illegal deployment of Armenian troops on Azerbaijan’s territories under their temporary control.
Later on August 14, President Ilham Aliyev reiterated that Azerbaijan has recently identified that Armenian troops are being sent to Karabakh via the Lachin corridor that is controlled by the Russian peacekeepers and stressed that this contradicts the 10 November deal.
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