On November 10, 2020, Azerbaijan announced that it had taken full control of the breakaway Armenian enclave of Kalbajar in the Nagorno-Karabakh region after the local Armenian administration announced its unilateral surrender. This marks a major victory for Azerbaijan and a key step in the conflict resolution process, as Kalbajar has long been a contested area between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The agreement, which was negotiated by Russia, stipulates that Azerbaijan is to take control of Kalbajar by November 15. The return of Kalbajar to Azerbaijani rule marks the first major step in implementing a Russian-brokered peace deal that was signed in November 2020, which aims to end six weeks of fighting over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Under the terms of the agreement, Azerbaijan is to take control of most of the territory that it lost in the early 1990s, including parts of the historic Nagorno-Karabakh region and the strategic Lachin corridor that links Armenia to the enclave.
