Russian President Vladimir Putin asserted that Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh have the authority only to monitor the ceasefire after 2020. This stance came through a report from TASS, the state news agency.
According to the report, Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh can only observe and verify compliance with the ceasefire; they do not hold other powers or mandates.
Charles Michel, who previously led the European Council, emphasized that the European Union expects Armenia and Azerbaijan to acknowledge each other’s territorial integrity. On the same day, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, was scheduled to meet Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Granada, Spain, to discuss the situation surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh.
Granada, located in the southern Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia, is set to host the third summit of the European Political Community and an informal gathering of the European Council on October 5-6.
Earlier, on September 19, Azerbaijani authorities announced a local operation in Karabakh described as aimed at suppressing large-scale provocations, disarming, and withdrawing Armenian army units from the region.
The following day, the parties reached a ceasefire agreement with mediation provided by Russian peacekeepers. This sequence of events underscores the fragile status of the region and the ongoing international efforts to stabilize it.
In a separate thread of debate within European institutions, there were discussions about possible sanctions against Azerbaijan in response to the Karabakh violence. These discussions reflect the broader geopolitical calculations and the attention of European lawmakers to the conflict and its regional implications.