YEREVAN. – Armenia’s Minister of Defense Davit Tonoyan on Tuesday evening had a telephone conversation with Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu, the Ministry of Defense of Armenia reported.

They discussed the urgent situation in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), and current matters related to the activities of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in the area.

The Armenian Minister of Defense thanked his Russian counterpart for the quick and efficient deployment of a Russian peacekeeping unit, as well as for organizing the finding and exchanging of dead soldiers, as well as of captives, hostages, and the missing.

Special attention was paid to the humanitarian situation in Artsakh. In this regard, the Armenian Minister of Defense expressed his support for the establishment—in Nagorno-Karabakh—of a Russian interdepartmental humanitarian response center that will be engaged in the return of refugees, restoration of civilian infrastructure, search for the casualties, captives and missing persons, and coordination of activities of various humanitarian organizations.

An agreement was reached to sign a respective trilateral document between the Ministries of Defense of the Russia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan—if necessary.

On November 9, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a joint statement on a complete cessation of hostilities in and around Artsakh. Accordingly, Russian peacekeepers will be deployed in the region to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire and the cessation of hostilities. But this statement also stipulates the handover of part of Artsakh lands to Azerbaijan.