On 17 November, Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov stated that his country would do everything to thwart attempts to revise the agreement signed by Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.

“We do not see any attempts to rewrite, revise the statement that was reached. If I understand correctly, difficult discussions are under way in Armenia now. The 17 opposition parties that have united to defend the interests of their country have clearly spoken against attempts to revise this statement," Lavrov said.

Lavrov also said that his country is interested in further strengthening cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Nagorno-Karabakh region. He recalled that Russia and the ICRC have many regions in which they closely cooperate. “Our contacts are regular and there is something to work on together because unfortunately, the number of humanitarian crises and conflicts in the world is not decreasing,” he stated.

The President of the ICRC Peter Maurer emphasised that the parties to the conflict have already exchanged 200 bodies. According to him, the priorities of the organisation's activities in Nagorno-Karabakh are helping displaced persons, retrieving the bodies of those killed, as well as visiting prisoners to prepare for possible negotiations and exchange.

Beside the ICRC, Lavrov also called for the UN agencies to aid in supporting the region’s humanitarian situation. “We hope that other humanitarian institutions, particularly the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), will be part of the solution process in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Considering the protection of the cultural heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh, UNESCO can play a very important role,” Lavrov added. 

The spokesperson of Russia’s President Dmitry Peskov stated that the biggest achievement of the agreement was that “cannons are silent” in the region. He underlined that the main thing for Russia now is how to preserve the recently established peace in the disputed region and secure return of all displaced persons and refugees as well as monitoring the preservation of peace.

In the meantime, an official from the US State Department stated that the United States and France want more clarity from Russia to the parameters of the agreement and Turkey’s role in the region. “So, a lot of talk about Nagorno-Karabakh, the Caucasus, and then broadly also about Turkey and the various areas where we’re – we have some concerns and differences with the Turks – various theatres across the region from the Eastern Mediterranean, Libya, Syria, and other parts,” he said. 

The Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said that the memorandum signed between Turkey and Russia to establish a Joint Monitoring Centre to monitor the ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh was only a framework document and that it still needs to be worked out.

While visiting the Fizuli and Jabrayil regions of Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said that there could be no talk of any status of Nagorno-Karabakh. “There is a single Azerbaijani state. There is a multi-ethnic, multi-confessional and progressive Azerbaijani state. All citizens of Azerbaijan, representatives of all peoples and religions live normally, in peace and harmony here. The Armenian people will live like this too. We have nothing against the Armenian people,” he stated.

Aliyev also spoke on the current political situation in Armenia, especially the pressure Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is currently facing. Aliyev said that  Pashinyan has destroyed his country in the last two years, and now he is only preoccupied with how to save his own life from the wrath of the Armenian people. “We have destroyed the Kocharyan-Sargsyan army. They have destroyed our lands. This time these cowards could not even stick their noses into the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. Where is your heroism? The fake ‘hero’ orders you have put on your chests – take out this metal scrap and throw them into the bin, we have defeated you. Pashinyan is nobody. Kocharyan and Sargsyan, the executioners of the Azerbaijani people, the executioners of Khojaly, we have defeated you, we have destroyed your army,” he stated. 

The Azerbaijani Ambassador to the European Union Fuad Isgandarov stated that the EU should take advantage of the new realities offered by the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process. He highlighted that a major threat to Europe's energy security and diversity of supply was removed, adding that the independent land corridor via Turkey-Armenia-Azerbaijan for trade between Asia and Europe is now open. 

The de facto leadership of Nagorno-Karabakh stated that the Armenian citizens living in the territory would not have to pay for electricity, natural gas and other utilities for the next year as part of an emergency aid package. The de facto President of Nagorno-Karabakh Arayik Harutunyan also promised to compensate low-income local residents and those Karabakh Armenians whose homes were destroyed during the war. However, Harutunyan did not specify the total cost of the aid package or say whether it would be financed by Armenia’s government or from somewhere else.