On 3 December, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence announced that 2,783 Azerbaijani servicemen were killed during the 44 day-long war on Nagorno-Karabakh.

The MOD also emphasised that the work is underway to identify 103 servicemen with DNA analysis and that more than a hundred servicemen are considered missing. The Armenian MOD reported 2,425 lost servicemen so far.

The spokesperson of Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakahrova delivered an update on the activities of the Russian peacekeepers in the region. “Cases of violation of ceasefire have not been recorded in Nagorno-Karabakh region. Safe return of refugees and [the] recommencement of movement of civilian auto-transportation have been provided by the peacekeepers. Furthermore, our peacekeepers clean the territories from mines,” she said.

When talking about the search for missing servicemen and exchanging of bodies, Zakharova said that this was the main issue both for Azerbaijan and Armenia. “Our peacekeepers continue their search with modern means. The main humanitarian issues were solved in the Nagorno-Karabakh,” she said. Zakharova also noted that until now 30 thousand refugees have returned to Nagorno-Karabakh, with a daily average of 1000-2000 persons. She also announced that UNESCO would send a mission to the region in order to give an assessment on the maintenance of Christian and Muslim monuments in the Karabakh region.

The international non-government organisation (INGO) Human Rights Watch published their report on the treatment of Armenian prisoners of war (POWs) in Azerbaijan. “Azerbaijani forces have inhumanely treated numerous ethnic Armenian military troops captured in the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. They subjected these prisoners of war (POWs) to physical abuse and humiliation, in actions that were captured on videos and widely circulated on social media since October,” the report highlighted. The INGO closely examined 14 POWs and spoke with the families of five POWs whose abuse was depicted. The videos were posted to Telegram channels, including Kolorit 18+ and Karabah_News, and to several Instagram accounts. None of the videos have metadata that could confirm the time and location where they were recorded attached, as it was stripped when the videos were uploaded to Telegram and other platforms. 

“There can be no justification for the violent and humiliating treatment of prisoners of war,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Humanitarian law is absolutely clear on the obligation to protect POWs. Azerbaijan’s authorities should ensure that this treatment ends immediately. Although some of the prisoners depicted in videos Human Rights Watch reviewed have, in subsequent communications with their families, said they are being treated well, there are serious grounds for concern about their safety and well-being,” he added.

On the same day, the 27th OSCE ministerial summit took place. The Albanian Prime Minister and current chair of the OSCE Edi Rama opened the summit by addressing the main issues within the organisation. “It’s time to turn the corner and overcome the current crisis in co-operation,” he stated, warning that the ongoing and deepening tensions and mistrust in the region, meant that the organisation was in a crisis that is worsening by every day. 

While commenting on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Rama said that he was thankful that the fighting has ceased. Expressing his full support for initiatives under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, he called for “substantive negotiations, in good faith, in order to reach agreement on the steps for a comprehensive, peaceful and lasting resolution to the conflict.” 

The Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers Ara Ayvzazyan and Jehyun Bayramov also presented their viewpoints during the ministerial. “The trilateral statement signed on 9 November by the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan to stop the war in Nagorno-Karabakh is aimed at establishing a stable ceasefire in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and deployment of Russian peacekeepers there. At this stage, some provisions of this statement, which for the most part were outside the diplomatic field, have been implemented or are in the process of being implemented. As we have repeatedly noted, the issues of ensuring the interests and rights of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh should be resolved in the diplomatic sphere within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship. And our primary task is to bring the discussion of this issue back to the diplomatic field,” said Ayvazyan.

According to Ayvazyan, a number of new tasks have emerged that require immediate solution, such as the protection of rights, the quick and safe return of Armenian POWs to their homeland and other captives held in Azerbaijan, the exchange of bodies of the killed soldiers, search for missing persons, return of displaced Karabakh Armenians to their homeland, creation of conditions to ensure their safe life, restoration and protection of their rights, protection of the Armenian historical, cultural and religious heritage in the territories which are controlled by Azerbaijan in Karabakh.  

Ayvazyan’s Azerbaijani counterpart Jehyun Bayramov focused more on the issue of integrating Karabakh Armenians in the Azerbaijani controlled territories. “Azerbaijan is resolute on the need to re-integrate its citizens of Armenian origin residing in the territories of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan into its political, social, economic space, guaranteeing the same rights and freedoms with all the citizens of Azerbaijan regardless of their ethnic, religious affiliation on an equal and non-discriminatory basis. Peaceful co-existence of Azerbaijani and Armenian residents in the conflict-affected territories based on respect to each other’s security, ethnic and religious identity within the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan must and shall be finally ensured,” he stated. 

The Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu stated during the ministerial that the trilateral agreement would have “positive implications on regional stability, as well as Azerbaijani-Turkish and Armenian-Turkish relations,” calling on the other members of Minsk Group, and in particular the co-chairs to refrain from politically motivated actions that may undermine the negotiated settlement. Cavusoglu’s Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov emphasised to the ministerial that “OSCE’s potential in the settlement of the conflicts remains at the required level.” 

The co-chair countries of the OSCE Minsk Group called upon Armenia and Azerbaijan to continue implementing the entirety of their obligations under the 9 November statement, in Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts, as well as their previous ceasefire commitments. They highlighted the significance of measures taken by the Russian Federation, in agreement with Azerbaijan and Armenia, to guarantee the non-renewal of hostilities. They also called for the full and prompt departure from the region of all foreign mercenaries and called upon all parties to facilitate this departure. The importance of guaranteeing conditions for the voluntary, safe, dignified, and sustainable return of people displaced by the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as well as the importance of protecting historical and religious heritage in and around Nagorno-Karabakh was also underscored.