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Armenian, Azeri Security Chiefs Meet In Moscow


Russia -- Alexander Bortnikov (R), the head of Russia's Federal Security Service, hosts a meeting of his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts, Moscow, December 28, 2020.
Russia -- Alexander Bortnikov (R), the head of Russia's Federal Security Service, hosts a meeting of his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts, Moscow, December 28, 2020.

The heads of Armenia’s and Azerbaijan’s main security services have met in Moscow to discuss the implementation of the Russian-brokered agreement to stop the war in Nagorno-Karabakh, it emerged on Wednesday.

Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) reported that the head of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), Alexander Bortnikov, hosted a trilateral meeting with his Armenian and Azerbaijani opposite numbers on Monday.

An NSS statement said the three men discussed “a number of pressing issues, including the exchange of prisoners and the search for missing persons.”

The statement added that NSS Director Armen Abazian and the chief of Azerbaijan’s State Security Service, Ali Naghiyev, reached “understandings on works to be carried out in various directions.” It did not elaborate.

The FSB issued no statement on the meeting. Bortnikov visited Yerevan and Baku earlier in December.

The Moscow meeting took place amid Baku’s claims that Armenian troops attacked on Sunday an Azerbaijani army unit in Karabakh’s southern Hadrut district that was occupied by Azerbaijani forces during the six-week war. Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said one Azerbaijani and six Armenian soldiers were killed in the firefight.

Armenia’s Defense Ministry strongly denied the allegations, saying that Karabakh’s Armenian-backed Defense Army did not conduct any military operations or violate the ceasefire otherwise.

The Defense Army likewise insisted on Wednesday that “not a single gunshot” was fired by its troops in recent days. In a statement, it also argued that the scene of the alleged incident is located dozens of kilometers from the nearest section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani “line of contact.”

The Karabakh Armenian army said it is now examining videos posted on Azerbaijani social media accounts purportedly showing the six Armenians allegedly killed on Monday. It suggested that they may have been captured and executed earlier.

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