2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement

Statement by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia and the President of the Russian Federation.

Typ	Armistice
Signed	November 9, 2020 (2020-11-09)
Standort	Moscow
Effective	November 10, 2020 (2020-11-10)
Mediators	Vladimir Putin
Signatories	Ilham Aliyev Nikol Pashinyan Vladimir Putin (witness)
Parties	Armenien Aserbaidschan

The 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement is an armistice agreement that ended the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war. It was signed on 9 November by the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, and the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and ended all hostilities in the Nagorno-Karabakh region from 00:00, 10 November 2020 Moscow time. The President of the self-declared Republic of Artsakh, Arayik Harutyunyan also agreed to an end of hostilities. The agreement was signed following a fierce battle that resulted in the change of control of the strategic city of Shusha from Armenia to Azerbaijan.

Übersicht

Frontlines at the time of the signing of the agreement with Azerbaijan's territorial gains during the war in red and the area that Armenia must withdraw from under the agreement depicted by the hashed area

According to the agreement both parties will exchange prisoners of war and the bodies of the fallen. Furthermore, the Armenian forces will withdraw from Armenian-controlled territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh by 1 December. Additionally, a 2,000-strong Russian peacekeeping force from the Russian Ground Forces will be deployed to the region for a minimum of five years to protect the Lachin corridor, situated between Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh region. According to Azerbaijan, Turkish forces will also take part in the peacekeeping process. Additionally, Azerbaijan will gain passage to its Nakhchivan exclave, which is detached from Azerbaijan, through a strip of Armenian land close to the border with Turkey and Iran. Russian forces will also guarantee the roads connecting Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan.

Terms of the agreement

The Multilateral Armistice Agreement states:

We the President of Azerbaijan, I. Alyev, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia N.V. Pashinyan and President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin state the following:

• A complete ceasefire and end to all hostilities in the Karabakh conflict from 00:00 Moscow time on November 10 2020. The Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia, hereinafter referred to as the parties stop at the positions they occupy.
• Aghdam rayon returns to the Republic of Azerbaijan from November 20 2020.
• Along the contact line in Nagorno-Karabakh and along the Lachin corridor there will be a peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation in the amount of 1960 military personnel with small arms, 90 armoured personnel carriers, 380 automotive units and special equipment.
• The peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation is deployed in parallel with the withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces. The duration of the peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation is 5 years with automatic renewal for the next 5 year periods, if none of the parties state otherwise 6 months in advance.
• In order to improve the effectiveness of control over the implementation by the Parties to the conflict agreements, a peacekeeping centre is being deployed to control the ceasefire.
• The Republic of Armenia will return to Azerbaijan the Kelbajar rayon from November 15th 2020, and the Lachin rayon from December 1st. The Lachin corridor (5 km (3.1 mi) wide) which will provide communication to Nagorono-Karabakh with Armenia, without affecting the town of Shusha remains under the control of the peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation.

• By agreement of the Parties, a construction plan will be determined in the next three years for a new route of movement along the Lachin corridor, providing a link between Nagorno-Karabkh and Armenia with the subsequent redeployment of the Russian peacekeeping contingent to guard this route.

• The Republic of Azerbaijan guarantees the safety of traffic along the Lachin corridor of citizens, vehicles, and goods in both directions.

• Internally displaced persons and refugees return to the territories of Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent areas under the control of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees.
• The exchange of prisoners of war is to be made, hostages, and other detainees as well as the remains of casualties.
• All economic and transport links in the region are to be unblocked. The Republic of Armenia guarantees the safety of transport links between western regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic in order to organise the unimpeded movement of citizens, vehicles and cargo in both directions. Transport control is carried out by the bodies of the Border Service of the FSB of Russia.

• By agreement of the Parties, the construction of new transport communications linking the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic with regions of Azerbaijan is to take place.

Reaction

Armenia and Artsakh

After signing the agreement, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan stated that “This is not a victory, but there is not defeat until you consider yourself defeated, we will never consider ourselves defeated and this shall become a new start of an era of our national unity and rebirth”. Violent protests erupted in Yerevan following the announcement of a ceasefire agreement. The speaker of the Parliament of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan was beaten by an angry mob.

Aserbaidschan

Large-scale celebrations erupted throughout Azerbaijan, most notably in Baku when news of the agreement was announced.

International

• Türkei: Foreign minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu congratulated Azerbaijan following the signing of the agreement.

See also

• Nagorno-Karabakh conflict