The idea of replacing Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh raises questions - Lavrov
YEREVAN, December 23. /ARKA/. The idea of replacing the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh with UN, OSCE or OSCE Minsk Group missions raises questions, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday at a joint news conference with visiting Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov.
"If someone believes that a UN, an OSCE, or a Minsk Group fact-finding group should replace the Russian peacekeeping contingent, there are at least a couple of questions here. The first question: in order to do this, the consent of the parties, first of all, Azerbaijan and Armenia, is necessary. If there is such an interest and if it is a serious interest, then probably it should first be offered to those who made the decision to send the Russian peacekeeping contingent and spoke in favor of sitting down at the negotiating table and think about another option," he said in response to a question from Tass news agency.
"If this is done through a microphone, publicly, then this is how one should treat it, that it is part of the presentation of a public assessment, a public position," the minister stressed.
Lavrov noted that the Russian peacekeeping contingent is carrying out its tasks, which are defined in the statement of November 9, 2020.
"Let me remind you that the situation on the ground is very complicated, considerable difficulties are created for our military, including due to violations of the regime established by trilateral agreements, violations of those obligations that arise from these agreements. Besides, sometimes our troops are subjected to baseless accusations," he said.
A day earlier, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that the UN, OSCE or the OSCE Minsk Group should send fact-finding missions to Lachin corridor and Nagorno-Karabakh.
Pashinyan blamed Azerbaijan and Russia for not complying with the 2020 ceasefire agreement that placed the Lachin corridor under the control of Russian peacekeeping forces and committed the Azerbaijani side to guaranteeing free and safe traffic through it.
The Lachin corridor, the only road linking Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia has been blocked by group of Azerbaijanis since December 12. They demand that their government be allowed to inspect “illegal” mining operations in Karabakh.
In the meantime food stores and markets in Nagorno-Karabakh have run out of key foodstuffs imported from or through Armenia.
Nagorno-Karabakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan said in daily video address that the situation with food supply and gasoline was severe. He told the population to be prepared for a potentially lengthy blockade of the road.-0-.
