Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan wants the activities of the Russian peacekeeping mission in Karabakh to be clarified. The Prime Minister expects Moscow to take necessary steps in this regard.
What is the reason for Pashinyan’s request: the Armenian leader believes that ‘problems of a systemic nature’ have emerged in the region, and therefore it is ‘necessary to clarify the activities of the peacekeeping mission’. TASS writes that the Prime Minister made this proposal after the brief fighting that occurred on August 3. According to him, he is concerned about the transfer of control of Hintaglar and Chailaggala villages of Khojavand district (what Armenians call Martuni) to the Azerbaijani side on December 11, 2020, and that of Farrukh village on March 24, 2022, and the constant violation of the ceasefire regime.
The clarification of the activities of peacekeepers should be carried out in parallel with their deployment in the region. Paragraph 3 of the tripartite statement dated November 9, 2020 clearly states that there is a contact line in Nagorno-Karabakh. This area is called the responsibility zone of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh. We expect that the attempt to cross the contact line will be prevented by the Russian peacekeeping contingent and the Azerbaijani units will retreat.
Pashinyan
What Russia says: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov commented on Pashinyan’s views on peacekeepers. TASS writes that the minister said that it is difficult for him to talk about it now as there are no specific proposals.
We have not seen the concrete proposals that the Prime Minister of Armenia wants to discuss on clarifying the details of the Russian peacekeeping mission in Nagorno-Karabakh. Of course, all parties have the right to put forward proposals regarding issues agreed upon by the leaders of Azerbaijan, Russia and Armenia. But we haven’t seen it yet.
Lavrov
What happened: According to the official information released by the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan on August 3, Anar Kazimov, a soldier of the Azerbaijan Armed Forces, died of a bullet wound in Lachin. It was reported that he was injured as a result of intense fire opened by Armenian militants in the area where the Russian peacekeepers are stationed. In connection with the fact, a criminal case was initiated in the Gubadli Military Prosecutor’s Office under Article 120.2.12 of the Criminal Code (murder with the intention of national, racial, religious enmity or enmity).
In another official information released by the Ministry of Defense during the day, it was stated that the Azerbaijani army conducted an anti-terrorist operation called “Revenge” in the area. As a result of the operation:
- Several battle positions were destroyed;
- The military unit in the Yukhari Oratagh settlement of the former Aghdara region was struck from the air;
- The manpower of the opposite side was killed and wounded;
- Several D-30 howitzers, military vehicles and a large amount of ammunition were destroyed.
