Azerbaijan has explained the reason for the hasty pulling out of the Russian peacekeeping contingent from Nagorno-Karabakh. "The top leadership of both countries adopted a decision to withdraw Russian peacekeepers from the territory of Azerbaijan ahead of schedule,” said Hikmat Hajiyev, Assistant of the President of Azerbaijan, Head of Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration, reports APA. "According to the trilateral statement signed on November 10, 2020, the decision to withdraw Russian peacekeepers temporarily stationed on the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan was adopted by the supreme leadership of both countries. The process has already started, the Defense Ministries of Azerbaijan and Russia are implementing the appropriate measures for the execution of that decision," Hajiyev added.