Russian peacekeepers have deployed to the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, the military said Wednesday, as part of a peace agreement to end weeks of fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the province.
More than 400 servicemen arrived in Armenia, senior General Staff official Sergei Rudskoy said, adding that the peacekeepers were now in control of the Lachin corridor, a key connection between Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh breakaway region.
Meanwhile, Armenian police arrested demonstrators in the capital Yerevan as anger mounted over Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's decision to sign the controversial peace deal with Azerbaijan.
An AFP correspondent at the scene said more than one hundred protesters had gathered in central Yerevan shouting "Nikol the traitor," adding that police had detained demonstrators including high-profile opposition figure Gagik Tsarukyan.
Pashinyan announced the Russian-brokered peace agreement with Azerbaijan in the early hours of Tuesday, ending more than six weeks of intense fighting that left more than 1,400 dead and displaced tens of thousands.
"You will not be able to stop the whole country," a member of the Prosperous Armenia party, Arman Abovyan, shouted through a megaphone to protesters who had rallied despite a ban imposed on public gatherings while martial law was in place.
Under the terms of the agreement, Azerbaijan's forces will retain control over areas seized in the fighting, including the key town of Shusha, while Armenia agreed to a timetable to withdraw from large parts of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The mountainous region of Karabakh declared independence from Azerbaijan nearly 30 years ago.
