Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu met—in Baku—with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov on Saturday, RIA Novosti reported.

It is noted that the parties discussed the course of the implementation of the statement on the settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh. "During the meeting with Shoygu, Aliyev lauded the course of implementation of the trilateral statement on the Karabakh issue, and the [respective] activities by the Russian peacekeepers [in the region]," the aforesaid news agency said.

"The ceasefire is maintained in Nagorno-Karabakh; I am convinced it will be the same in the future, too," the Russian defense minister said during his meeting with the Azerbaijani president.

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— which Azerbaijan had launched on September 27—in and around Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). Accordingly, Russian peacekeepers are 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.