Azerbaijan sends note to Russia regarding activities of peacekeepers

The Foreign Affairs Ministry of Azerbaijan submitted a note to Russia regarding peacekeepers, the Spokesperson of the Azerbaijani Foreign Affairs Ministry Aykhan Hajizada said, Report informs.

According to Hajizada, the Azerbaijani side has repeatedly applied to the command of the peacekeeping contingent in order to prevent the illegal exploitation of natural resources in the Azerbaijani territories where the Russian peacekeepers are temporarily stationed, as well as to eliminate the consequences of the negative impact on the environment.

"In many cases, these appeals of the Azerbaijani side were not answered and the peacekeeping contingent took no measures to prevent the illegal exploitation of Azerbaijan's natural resources. According to the information obtained by Azerbaijan, activated unlawful exploitation and looting of natural resources, including deterioration of ecological consequences, is observed, especially in the Gyzylbulag gold and Damirli copper-molybdenum deposits.

Since December 3, 2022, negotiations have been held between the representatives of the relevant state institutions of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Russian peacekeeping contingent to find ways to make the visit of Azerbaijani specialists to the territory and monitoring possible."

Aykhan Hajizada noted that despite the attempt of Azerbaijani representatives on December 10 to visit these two areas where minerals are illegally exploited, following the agreement reached, the visit was obstructed:

"Because the Russian peacekeeping contingent did not take any action, a pre-planned protest by local residents prevented the visit. In connection with this situation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan submitted a corresponding note to the Russian side. Following the agreement, demands were raised to ensure unhindered access of Azerbaijan's representatives to the deposits. It was emphasized that it is unacceptable to obstruct such a trip or to impose any conditions. The need for the Russian peacekeeping contingent stationed in a part of Azerbaijan's territories under the Tripartite Declaration of November 10, 2020, to strictly observe the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan in all its activities was brought to the attention."