The Zheleznovodsk Communiqué, also known as the Zheleznovodsk Declaration or Zheleznovodsk Accords, was a joint peace

communiqué A press release (also known as a media release) is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing new information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public releas ...

mediated by

Russian President The president of Russia, officially the president of the Russian Federation (), is the executive head of state of Russia. The president is the chair of the Federal State Council and the supreme commander-in-chief of the Russian Armed Forces. I ...

Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin (1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician and statesman who served as President of Russia from 1991 to 1999. He was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1961 to ...

and Kazakh President,

Nursultan Nazarbayev Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev (born 6 July 1940) is a Kazakhstani politician who served as the first president of Kazakhstan from 1991 to 2019. He also held the special title of Elbasy from 2010 to 2022 and chairman of the Security Council of ...

in Zheleznovodsk,

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

on September 23, 1991, with an intention to end the three-year-long hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the

Nagorno-Karabakh Nagorno-Karabakh (, ; ) is a region in Azerbaijan, covering the southeastern stretch of the Lesser Caucasus mountain range. Part of the greater region of Karabakh, it spans the area between Lower Karabakh and Syunik Province, Syunik. Its ter ...

region, still an autonomous oblast of the

Azerbaijan SSR The Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, also referred to as the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic, Azerbaijan SSR, Azerbaijani SSR, AzSSR, Soviet Azerbaijan or simply Azerbaijan, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union be ...

. Although consensus was reached, the treaty was never ratified.

Background

The conflict over

Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) was an Autonomous oblasts of the Soviet Union, autonomous oblast within the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic that was created on July 7, 1923. Its capital was the city of Stepanakert. The majori ...

of Azerbaijan SSR which started in early 1988 had developed unmitigated and claimed lives of many civilians, interior troops and army.

Mediating mission

With consent from the authorities in Azerbaijan and Armenia, Boris Yeltsin and Nursultan Nazarbayev led a mediating mission on September 20–23 visiting

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

Ganja ''Ganja'' (, ; ) is one of the oldest and most commonly used synonyms for cannabis flower, specifically marijuana or hashish. Its usage in English dates to before 1689. Etymology ''Ganja'' is borrowed from Hindi (, IPA: �aːɲd͡ʒa� ...

Stepanakert Stepanakert officially Khankendi is a city in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. It was the capital city of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh prior to the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh, 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in ...

, and

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

. Taking the principles of

territorial integrity Territorial integrity is the principle under international law where sovereign states have a right to defend their borders and all territory in them from another state. It is enshrined in Article 2(4) of the UN Charter and has been recognized as c ...

, non-interference in internal affairs of sovereign states, observance of civil rights as the starting point, breakthrough was achieved on September 22 when Armenia renounced all its claims to Azerbaijani territory. This allowed the parties to agree to a joint communique the next day, committing both sides to disarm and withdraw militias, allow return of

refugee A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

s and IDPs, re-establish Soviet-era administrative order of the Nagorno-Karabakh

oblast An oblast ( or ) is a type of administrative division in Bulgaria and several post-Soviet states, including Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Historically, it was used in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. The term ''oblast'' is often translated i ...

and set up delegations to find a peaceful solution to the conflict.

Soviet army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

and internal troops would still remain in the conflict zone and the process would be supervised by Russian and Kazakh officials. The peace communiqué was discussed with participation of Y. Shaposhnikov, V.Barannikov, S. Voskanyan, M. Gezalov, V. Dzhafarov, R. Kocharian, L. Petrosian, M. Radayev and was signed by

(Russian Federation), Ayaz Mutalibov (Azerbaijan),

(Kazakhstan) and

Levon Ter-Petrosian Levon may refer to: Music * "Levon" (song), a song by Elton John and Bernie Taupin *Levon & the Hawks The Band was a Canadian-American rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, in 1957. It consisted of the Canadians Rick Danko (bass, guitar, voc ...

(Armenia).

References

External links

Full text of the Zheleznovodsk CommuniquéText of all peace accords between Armenia and Azerbaijan
Peace treaties Armenia–Azerbaijan peace process Treaties of Armenia Treaties of Azerbaijan Treaties concluded in 1991 1991 in the Soviet Union Treaties of the Republic of Artsakh 1991 in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic September 1991 in the Soviet Union {{Treaty-stub

Background

Mediating mission

See also

References

External links