Agreement Between Armenia and the RSFSR From August 1920

On August 10, 1920, plenipotentiary B. V. Legrand on behalf of the RSFSR, on one hand, and representatives of the Republic of Armenia A. Jamalyan and A. Babalyan on the other on the basis of recognition of the independence and full sovereignty of the Republic of Armenia concluded this agreement as follows:

1. From 12 o’clock, August 10, 1920, military operations between the troops of the RSFSR and the Republic of Armenia are considered ceased. Note: hostilities that may occur after the specified period due to technical obstacles should not entail any consequences that contradict any clause of this agreement.

2. The troops of the Republic of Armenia occupy the following line: Shakhtakhty-Khok-Aznaburt-Sultanbek, the line north of Kuki and west of Bazarchay (Bazarkend), and the line in the Kazakh Uyezd that was occupied by them on July 30. The troops of the RSFSR take the disputed areas of Karabakh, Zangezur, and Nakhichevan, with the exception of the line defined by this agreement for the troops of the Republic of Armenia.

3. The occupation by the Soviet troops of the disputed territories does not predetermine the issue of the rights to these territories of the Republic of Armenia or the Azerbaijan Socialist Soviet Republic. This temporary occupation by the RSFSR means to create favorable conditions for the peaceful resolution of territorial disputes between Armenia and Azerbaijan on the basis that will be established by a peace treaty which will be concluded between the RSFSR and the Republic of Armenia in the near future.

4. With the cessation of hostilities, the contracting parties shall cease the concentration of military forces in both disputed and border territories.

5. Until the conclusion of an agreement between the RSFSR and the Republic of Armenia, the operation of the railway in the Shakhtakhty-Julfa section is left to the Armenian Railways. However, it cannot be used for military purposes.

6. The RSFSR guarantees free entry into Armenia (with weapons and equipment) for all military units of the Armenian government that have found themselves behind the line occupied by Soviet troops.

This agreement is signed in duplicate, and one of the copies shall be handed to the representatives of the Republic of Armenia and the other to the plenipotentiary of the RSFSR.

Plenipotentiary of the RSFSR in Armenia B. V. Legrand. The delegates of the Republic of Armenia were A. Babalyan and A. Jamalyan.

“Bulletin of the Archives of Armenia”, 1967, document 3, p. 17.

The third document from the book of A. S. Minasyan “The Karabakh Conflict: Internationally Recognized Grounds for the Problem”

Document No. 3 from the agreement between the Republic of Armenia and the Government of the RSFSR from August 10, 1920.

Read also: An Agreement Between Armenia and Azerbaijan on Artsakh from August 1919, Resolution of the 9th Congress of the Working Peasantry of Nagorno-Karabakh