Wednesday, November 4, 2020
Russia ‘Doing Everything’ To End Fighting In Nagorno-Karabakh
• Aza Babayan
RUSSIA -- Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with heads of
religious confessions on the National Unity Day, via a video conference call in
Moscow, November 4, 2020
Moscow is doing everything in its power to put an end to the armed conflict in
Nagorno-Karabakh as soon as possible, Russian President Vladimir Putin said
during a meeting with representatives of religious organizations on Wednesday.
Putin said that a halt to hostilities will save the lives of people “who stand
opposite each other and, unfortunately, still see each other through rifle
sights.”
“They are using weapons against each other to achieve goals that, in our deep
conviction, could be achieved through a negotiation process,” the Russian leader
said.
Putin again stressed that Russia stays in contact with both Armenia and
Azerbaijan.
“I hope that we will be able to achieve a result on the basis that would suit
all people living in the region, and achieve it by peaceful means,” Putin added.
As the Kremlin reported earlier this week, Putin had separate telephone
conversations with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev on November 1 and 2, respectively. It said the situation
in Nagorno-Karabakh was discussed during the phone calls. But Russia’s Deputy
Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko cautioned on Tuesday that it was yet too early
to speak about a possible meeting between the two South Caucasus leaders.
Putin’s remarks today came amid reports of fresh fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh
where ethnic Armenian forces and Azerbaijan have been making claims and
counterclaims about successful defensive and offensive operations that are
difficult to confirm independently.
Either side also accuses the other of targeting civilians in the armed conflict
that broke out on September 27.
Both sides have reported scores of deaths among civilians. Armenians have also
confirmed 1,177 deaths among their military. Azerbaijan does not disclose its
military casualties, considering them a wartime secret. Russia has estimated as
many as 5,000 deaths on both sides.
Armenia Sees Azerbaijan’s Advancement In Karabakh As ‘Ethnic Cleansing’
Armenian President Armen Sarkissian (archive photo)
Azerbaijan is seeking to take over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh by
annihilating its ethnic Armenian population, Armenia’s President Armen
Sarkissian charged while meeting with a group of local and foreign politicians,
public figures and journalists in Yerevan on Wednesday.
As quoted by his press office, Sarkissian stressed that “Azerbaijan’s claims
that they are liberating their territories has, in fact, another internationally
accepted formulation, which is called ‘ethnic cleansing’.”
“They are now destroying schools, hospitals, committing inhumane acts, taking
away human lives: of the elderly, children and young people,” the Armenian
president said, emphasizing that “Armenians have lived in Nagorno-Karabakh for
thousands of years.”
Meanwhile, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in an interview with the
Italian La Republica newspaper that Baku will guarantee the security and better
life for ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh.
“I have repeatedly said that all residents of Nagorno-Karabakh will continue to
live there peacefully and with dignity. Armenians are our citizens,” Aliyev
said, as reported by AzerTac state news agency.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
“Thousands of Armenians live in various places in Azerbaijan, mainly in Baku.
Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh can rest assured that their security will
be guaranteed and that they will have a better financial situation and better
life than today,” the Azerbaijani leader said.
The remarks by the two countries’ leaders came amid reports of fresh fighting in
Nagorno-Karabakh where ethnic Armenian forces claimed to have repulsed two
attacks by Azerbaijan troops in the southern direction on November 4 morning and
afternoon, destroying several Azeri tanks and other materiel.
Azerbaijan, meanwhile, denied losing any tanks in the reported battles, on the
contrary, claiming its successful operations, in particular, in the Khojavend
(Martuni) direction. Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry denies its forces target
civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Heavy Fighting Reported In Nagorno-Karabakh
An ethnic Armenian artillery unit during a combat in Nagorno-Karabakh (archive
photo)
Ethnic Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh have reported heavy fighting with
Azerbaijani troops attempting to advance in the direction of Shushi (Shusha), a
strategic town overlooking the region’s capital, Stepanakert.
In a report disseminated on Wednesday morning the ethnic Armenian Defense Army
claimed that Azerbaijani commandos attempted a raid overnight towards the town
sitting on a mountaintop some 10 kilometers to the south of Stepanakert, but
were stopped in their tracks after meeting resistance from army units and
volunteers defending the approaches to the town.
“The advancing group suffered heavy losses and was thrown back,” the report
claimed.
“Actions on the encirclement and destruction of the group continue at this
moment,” it added.
Official reports coming from Azerbaijan do not refer to any fighting near
Shushi. According to Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry, fighting of varying
intensity continued in the Tartar, Aghdam, Khojavend (Martuni), Zangilan and
Qubadli directions of the frontline.
Both armies claim to control “the operational-tactical situation” along the
frontline.
Nagorno-Karabakh’s Defense Army also claimed in its report that Azerbaijani
forces continued to shell civilian areas. It said there were wounded people
among civilians as a result of the shelling.
On November 3, Armenia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement
deploring Azerbaijan’s continued bombing of the civilian infrastructure in
Stepanakert and Shushi with the use of cluster munitions.
It said that the Stepanakert Mother and Child Healthcare Center was targeted, in
particular.
“The continuous targeting of Stepanakert’s medical facilities by the Azerbaijani
armed forces once again demonstrates the goal of Azerbaijan’s military-political
leadership to inflict maximum damage on the civilian population of Artsakh [the
Armenian name for Nagorno-Karabakh], especially women and children far away from
the frontline,” the ministry said.
“This is another manifestation of state terrorism carried out by a country which
through the efforts of Turkey has already turned itself into a hub of
concentration of international terrorist fighters in the South Caucasus. We
emphasize that amid the existential threats the people of Artsakh are facing,
the authorities and the Defense Army of Artsakh have the inalienable right to
defend their own people and to counterattack the enemy,” it added.
Azerbaijan denies targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure in
Nagorno-Karabakh. In its turn it accuses Armenia and Armenia-backed forces in
Nagorno-Karabakh of shelling populated areas inside Azerbaijan, a claim denied
by Armenians.
Russia Calls For Ceasefire Control Mechanisms In Karabakh
• Aza Babayan
RUSSIA -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks during a joint press
conference with his Armenian counterpart following their talks in Moscow on
October 12, 2020.
A sustainable ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh would be difficult to achieve
without agreements on effective control mechanisms, according to Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov.
In an interview with the Russian Kommersant daily on November 3 Lavrov said that
such mechanisms could include the use of various electronic devices, a hot line
between Yerevan and Baku, observers under the auspices of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), operations with the participation of
military contingents.
“However, it has not yet been possible to agree on all the parameters,” he added.
Russia brokered the first of the three humanitarian ceasefires to halt ongoing
military operations in Nagorno-Karabakh on October 10. However, that ceasefire
as well as the two other agreements brokered by France and the United States
later last month collapsed within hours after entering into force.
The top Russian diplomat said that although it was not immediately possible to
achieve a sustainable ceasefire, Moscow will “continue to use all its influence
in the region to persuade Baku and Yerevan to sit down at the negotiating table.”
“Moscow once again calls on the parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and
external partners to strictly respect the agreements on ceasefire, the creation
of a control mechanism and the resumption of a substantial negotiation process
with a specific timetable,” Lavrov said.
In the interview the Russian foreign minister also addressed the issue of
mercenaries from the Middle East involved in the Nagorno-Karabakh fighting,
saying that the number of such fighters is approaching 2,000. He said that the
Russian leadership periodically raises this issue and that this issue was also
raised by Russian President Vladimir Putin during his telephone conversation
with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on October 27.
Lavrov once again stressed that Russia is against changing the format of the
mediation, which is currently led by Russia, the United States and France, but,
noting the important role and influence of Turkey on Azerbaijan, said that
“Moscow is working and will continue to work with Turkey to bring the parties to
the conflict to the negotiating table.”
“We will continue to use all the influence we have in the region, we will work
with our Turkish partners to stop the further unwinding of the military
scenario, establish a dialogue between the parties and convince Baku and Yerevan
to sit down at the negotiating table,” the top Russian diplomat said.
Earlier this week the Kremlin said that Russian President Vladimir Putin held
separate telephone conversations with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian
and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, on November 1 and November 2,
respectively, and that “issues of the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict were discussed in detail” during the phone calls.
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko, however, said that it is too
early to speak about a possible meeting between the leaders of Armenia and
Azerbaijan.
According to him, at the moment negotiations on the settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are being conducted at the expert level, primarily
within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group.
Rudenko once again stressed that Moscow stands for a political settlement of the
conflict.
“We definitely assume that there can be no military solution to this conflict,
that the solution should be a political, comprehensive one taking into account
the interests of all parties concerned,” he said.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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