Turkish peace units will be kept out of Nagorno-Karabakh, Lavrov says

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Turkey's peacekeeping units that Moscow will collaborate with will not be allowed into Nagorno-Karabakh. The exclusion of Turkish forces was an essential element of the peace deal signed between Armenia and Azerbaijan on Nov. 10, he added.

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None of Turkey's peacekeeping units will be located in Nagorno-Karabakh as part of the protocol Ankara signed with Russia on Nov. 11 that provisioned establishing a joint centre to coordinate efforts to monitor the peace deal, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Nov. 12.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Nov. 10 that Azerbaijan and Armenia had signed an agreement to create the necessary conditions for a long-term and comprehensive solution to the longstanding conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.

"No peacekeeping units of the Turkish Republic will be dispatched to Nagorno-Karabakh. There is a clear provision on that score in the joint statement of the leaders," he said.

Turkish observers will be confined to the ceasefire control center being established on Azerbaijan soil, Lavrov added.

"The center will be operating in a remote mode, using technical means of monitoring, such as drones, which will allow for keeping an eye on the situation on the ground in Karabakh and determining which side observes the ceasefire and which violates it," he stated.