Russia begins to withdraw its peacekeeping forces from Karabakh, now under full control of Azerbaijan

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian forces are withdrawing from Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region, where they have been stationed as peacekeepers since a war ended in 2020, officials from the two countries said Wednesday.

In a conference call with journalists, the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed reports of the withdrawal but did not provide further details. Hikmet Hajiyev, head of foreign policy in Azerbaijan’s presidential administration, also confirmed the withdrawal, saying it had been accepted by both countries.

Hajiyev did not explain why the forces were being withdrawn, but their presence appeared redundant after Azerbaijan regained full control of the region last year.

The Karabakh region was under the control of ethnic Armenians until the 2020 war which saw Azerbaijan regain control of parts of the region.

That war ended with a Russian-brokered ceasefire, which called for the deployment of around 2,000 peacekeepers to parts of Karabakh still held by the Armenians. The tasks of the forces included ensuring free passage on the only road connecting Karabakh to Armenia.

But Azerbaijan began blocking the route in late 2022, alleging that Armenians were using it to transport smuggled weapons and minerals, and Russian forces did not intervene.

After months of increasingly severe food and medical shortages in Karabakh due to the blockade, Azerbaijan launched a blitz in September 2023 that forced the Armenian authorities in Karabakh to capitulate after a day of negotiations mediated by the Russian forces.

Almost all of Karabakh’s 50,000 Armenian residents fled the region within days.