“At Vladimir Putin’s initiative, on January 11, Moscow will host trilateral talks between the President of the Russian Federation, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan,” the Kremlin said in a statement Sunday.

“There are plans to examine the implementation of the Statement by the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia on Nagorno Karabakh of November 9, 2020, and to discuss further action to address the problems existing in the region,” the statement said, adding that special attention will be paid to providing assistance to residents in areas affected by hostilities as well as to resuming and developing trade and economic relations and ensuring operation of transport links.

“Vladimir Putin will also hold separate talks with Ilham Aliyev and Nikol Pashinyan,” the statement added.

During the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, which began on 27 September 2020, Azerbaijani forces seized control of many settlements, including the strategically important city of Shusha after a three-day-long battle.

The war ended in an Azerbaijani victory on 9 November, and a ceasefire was signed between both parties and Russia.

According to the agreement, Armenian and Azerbaijani forces will remain in their positions until Armenia returns territories it occupied surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh (Kalbajar, Aghdam, and Lachin Districts) back to Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan will retain all territories gained during the war, and around 2,000 Russian peacekeeping forces will be deployed in the remaining territory. (ILKHA)