Armenia Expects Russian Support on Issue of Azerbaijani Troops' Withdrawal - Yerevan

YEREVAN (Sputnik) - Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan told Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday that Yerevan is expecting Moscow's support on the matter of Azerbaijani armed forces withdrawing from the country's territory, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said.

Earlier in the day, the ministers held a meeting in Astana, discussing the work on a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan as well as the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

"Minister Mirzoyan underscored that the Armenian side is expecting an unequivocal position from Russia as a strategic ally and support on the issue of the withdrawal of Azerbaijani armed forces from Armenia's sovereign territory," the ministry said in a statement.

The Armenian minister also drew attention to the need for an immediate return of Armenian prisoners of war and other detained persons as well as the importance of holding accountable the people responsible for extrajudicial killings, torture and other war crimes allegedly perpetrated by Azerbaijan against Armenian prisoners.

Hostilities broke out on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border in the early hours of September 13, in an area unrelated to the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Azerbaijan said it started an offensive in response to an Armenian "provocation." Both countries agreed to a ceasefire next day.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said last week, following a meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on the sidelines of the European Political Community summit  in Prague, that a peace agreement between Baku and Yerevan may be reached by the end of 2022.