BAKU: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on a visit to Baku Monday that Moscow was still committed to its historic role of mediating peace negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, despite its Ukraine campaign.
Putin was in Azerbaijan on a two-day visit — his first to the oil-rich country since Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022, and since Baku retook the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave in a September 2023 offensive.
Russia has for decades been a traditional mediator between the Caucasus foes but has in the last two years been bogged down by its Ukraine campaign, with Western powers playing an increasing role in arbitrating the conflict.
“It is widely known that Russia is also facing crises, first of all on the Ukrainian track,” Putin said in Baku in joint remarks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
“However, Russia’s historical involvement in the events in the South Caucasus, even during the recent years, makes it necessary for us to participate where needed by the sides, without a doubt.”
Baku’s campaign ended three decades of Armenian separatist rule and soured relations between Yerevan and its traditional ally Moscow, with Armenia accusing Russia of inaction and strengthening its ties with Western countries since.
“If we can do something to sign a peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia... we will be very happy to,” Putin said.
The Russian leader said that after his Baku visit he will contact Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to “tell him about the results of our negotiations.”
Aliyev said the security of the region largely depended on the close cooperation between Azerbaijan and Russia.
“The new situation (since September last year) opens up new opportunities for establishing a lasting peace in the South Caucasus,” he said.
When Baku recaptured Karabakh in a swift offensive last September, it led to the exodus of the mountainous enclave’s entire ethnic Armenian population — more than 100,000 people.
Putin in Baku offers to mediate Azerbaijan-Armenia peace deal
https://arab.news/6rnq7
Putin in Baku offers to mediate Azerbaijan-Armenia peace deal
- Russia has for decades been a traditional mediator between the Caucasus foes but has in the last two years been bogged down by its Ukraine campaign
US bombers join Japanese jets in show of force after China–Russia drills
- Japan says US B-52 bombers flew with Japanese F-35s and F-15s
- South Korea and Japan have scrambled jets during Chinese and Russian drills
TOKYO: US nuclear-capable bombers flew over the Sea of Japan alongside Japanese fighter jets on Wednesday, Tokyo said, in a show of force following Chinese and Russian drills in the skies and seas around Japan and South Korea.
Japan and the US “reaffirmed their strong resolve to prevent any unilateral attempt to change the status quo by force and confirmed the readiness posture of both the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) and US forces,” Japan’s defense ministry said in a press release on Thursday.
The flight of two US B-52 strategic bombers with three Japanese F-35 stealth fighters and three F-15 air-superiority jets was the first time the US had asserted its military presence since China began military exercises in the region last week.
The display follows a joint flight of Chinese and Russian strategic bombers in the East China Sea and western Pacific on Tuesday and separate Chinese aircraft carrier drills that prompted Japan to scramble jets that Tokyo said were targeted by radar beams.
The encounter drew criticism from Washington, which said the incident was “not conducive to regional peace and stability” and reaffirmed that its alliance with Japan was “unwavering.”
Both Japan and South Korea host US forces, with Japan home to the biggest concentration of American military power overseas, including an aircraft carrier strike group and a US Marine expeditionary force.
China denied Tokyo’s accusation, saying Japanese jets flying near the carrier had endangered its air operations south of Japan.
South Korea’s military said it also scrambled fighter jets when the Chinese and Russian aircraft entered its air defense identification zone on Tuesday, an area that extends beyond its airspace and is used for early warning.
Regional tensions have risen since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi triggered a dispute with Beijing last month with her remarks on how Tokyo might react to a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan.
China claims democratically governed Taiwan and has not ruled out using force to take control of the island, which sits just over 100 km (62 miles) from Japanese territory and is surrounded by sea lanes on which Tokyo relies.
