Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian had recently ordered an end to the fight with Azerbaijjan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region in southern Caucusus. Pashinian’s announcement came after Azerbaijani forces seized the strategically key city of Shushi. Nagorno-Karabakh is a region in Azerbaijan that has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since 1994. The problem had arose after the USSR had refused to accept the Nagorno-Karabakh’s request to be included in Armenia.

Azerbaijani forces took control of a strategic city in the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and were nearing its capital, a spokesman for the region’s government had confirmed on Monday, and Azerbaijan had said that it had shot down a Russian helicopter over Armenia far from the fighting in which two Russian servicemen were killed.

Ever since the fighting between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces over Nagorno-Karabakh restarted in September, the seizure of Shushi was claimed by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev as the most significant military development.

Thousands of Armenian demonstrators demanded in protests on Wednesday that the Armenian PM resign over the ceasefire that secured territorial advances for Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh after six weeks of fighting. They all were chanting during their protests: “Nikol is a traitor”. Several hundreds of demonstrators had marched on parliament in the capital Yerevan but were blocked by police and stood outside shouting: “Nikol, leave”. Witnesses said that there were a number of arrests but there were no immediate reports of serious clashes. Armenian PM had called the recent fighting over the disputed region as a disaster but he also added that he had no choice but to sign it to stave off a defeat.

In this backdrop, Russia brokered a new peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan. This peace deal was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

As per the new peace deal, both sides will now be maintaining positions in the areas that they currently hold, which will mean a significant gain for Azerbaijan as it has reclaimed over 15-20 percent of its lost territory during the recent conflict, the AFP reported.

Further, under this agreement, all military operations have been suspended, Russian peacekeepers will be deployed in two places. One would be along the line of contact in Nagorno-Karabakh and the other along the Lachin corridor that connects the region to Armenia. For a period of five years, these Russian peacekeepers with a force of roughly 2,000 will be deployed in the area.

Refugees and internally displaced persons, under the peace deal, will return to the region and the adjacent territories and the two sides will also need to exchange prisoners of wars and bodies. Apart from all this, a new corridor will be opened from Nakhchivan to Azerbaijan, which will be under Russian control.

The author is a member of Amity centre of Happiness