Armenia to withdraw all troops from Nagorno-Karabakh by September

Earlier today (19 July), the secretary of the Armenian Security Council, Armen Grigoryan, announced that all troops of the Armenian Armed Forces would withdraw from Nagorno-Karabakh by September.

Grigoryan said that during the 44-day war, a number of units from the Armenian Army had gone to help the Defence Army of Nagorno-Karabakh, and that in light of the ceasefire and the presence of the Russian military contingent, it was now logical for these forces to be withdrawn. He added that this process had been ongoing since the end of the war, but that it would be completed by September, with no new troops deployed to Nagorno-Karabakh.

Grigoryan also addressed questions about the safety of the Armenian residents in Nagorno-Karabakh, noting that the Defence Army of Nagorno-Karabakh would continue to ensure the security of the region, and that the presence of the Russian military contingent should also act as a security guarantee.

On Friday, Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev complained that the Armenian withdrawal from Nagorno-Karabakh was too slow, and that Yerevan was not complying with article 4 of the 10 November 2020 trilateral statement, which states that the withdrawal of Armenian forces should take place in parallel with the deployment of the Russian forces. During his meeting with his Armenian counterpart over the weekend, the Azerbaijani foreign minister, Jeyhun Bayramov also emphasised the need for this process to take place as soon as possible

source: commonspace.eu 
photo: Armenian soldier; Official website of the Armenian Ministry of Defence