According to the agreement, Russia will send a peace contingent as well as a peacekeeping center to monitor the ceasefire. The Russian peace contingent will remain in place for five years, with an automatic extension for the next five-year period, as long as neither Azerbaijan nor Armenia declares their intention to terminate the provision six months before the end of the period. After signing the agreement, Azerbaijan demanded that Turkish troops be involved in monitoring the ceasefire alongside Russia (although Armenian territories are not neglected), which both countries agreed to. Putin noted that Russia « will do it [peacekeeping] with Turkey, because we have very good experience of cooperation in the Middle East, including in Syria, where we are organizing joint patrols both in the Idlib area and on the border between Syria and Turkey. » Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov initially indicated that « no peacekeeper from the Turkish Republic will be sent to Nagorno-Karabakh. » But outside the contours of the ceasefire agreement, Turkey established a joint peacekeeping center with Russia and sent troops to join Russian forces in Azerbaijan. Russia continues to insist that Turkish troops will not be involved in the peacekeeping mission on the ground in the NKR, but will monitor the ceasefire from monitoring stations in Azerbaijan. It is not yet known what the reality will be. In coordination with the international community, the Minsk Group is mandated to facilitate negotiations on a « peaceful and comprehensive solution » to the conflict. The Co-Chairs have a responsibility to promote a non-use of force solution to the conflict and must « assist the Chairman-in-Office in developing a plan for the establishment, composition and functioning of an OSCE multinational peacekeeping force. » Although the current ceasefire agreement includes a peacekeeping force, it officially only includes Russian peacekeepers. But is the agreement enough to build a bridge to lasting peace, or will its weaknesses revive the fighting? Under the ceasefire agreement signed on 9 November 2020 by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia and the President of the Russian Federation, Azerbaijan regains control of the seven surrounding districts, i.e. the districts conquered by Azerbaijan as a result of hostilities and those gradually handed over to Azerbaijan by Armenia within one month of the signing of the ceasefire agreement. In particular, Armenia returned Kalbajar District on 25 November 2020 (the initial deadline of 15 November was extended by 10 days), Aghdam District on 20 November 2020 and Lachin District on 1 December 2020. Azerbaijan also retains parts of Nagorno-Karabakh itself, including a strategically important city of Susha, which it captured during hostilities.
Statement by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia and the President of the Russian Federation, 10 November 2020, items 1-2 and 6; J. Miklasová, « The Recent Ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh: Territorial Control, Peacekeepers and Status Issue, » EJIL:Talk!, December 4, 2020. Therefore, all these territories are no longer occupied by Armenia. On November 9, the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement to end fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous region at the center of a protracted « frozen conflict » between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The agreement, signed after 44 days of fighting, introduces a number of new terms that were not previously included in any ceasefire, all of which were considered successes for Azerbaijan and Russia, but not necessarily for Armenia. The new ceasefire agreement sparked anger in Armenia as protesters stormed parliament, beat the president and reportedly ransacked the prime minister`s office. On the 10th. In November 2020, a Russian-brokered ceasefire agreement ended a forty-four-day Armenian-Azerbaijani war on the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, confirming a decisive Azerbaijani military victory. .