Two servicemen of the Artsakh Defense Army were killed and 19 others were injured in the latest fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh, Nikol Pashinyan said at the start of a cabinet meeting on Thursday, commenting on the events of August 2 and 3, which everyone already knows about.
Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said its forces carried out a military operation named “Revenge” in the Artsakh Republic, a common practice for the aggressor, Azerbaijan. As a result of Azerbaijan’s terrorist operation, there are wounded and killed on the Armenian side. The situation was "defused" with the mediation of Russian peacekeepers, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.
Nikol Pashinyan said today that the latest developments are bringing about institutional issues. He says he has repeatedly stated that the presence and activities of the Russian peacekeeping forces in Nagorno-Karabakh are a key factor to ensure the security of the Artsakh Armenians, and Armenia highly appreciates Russia’s efforts to ensure security and stability in the region.
In Pashinyan’s words, a number of events in Nagorno-Karabakh since November 2020, including the latest developments, have raised questions among the Armenian public about the content and essence of the peacekeeping operation in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Pashinyan, who yesterday was still on vacation and did not react in any way to the Azerbaijani aggression against the Artsakh Republic, today apparently decided to both praise and criticize the peacekeepers.
"The December 11, 2020 capture of the villages of Khtsaberd and Hin Tagher and Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan in the presence and connivance of Russian peacekeepers, the March 24, 2022 seizure of the village of Parukh in Nagorno-Karabakh again in the presence of Russian peacekeepers, the constant and increasing ceasefire violations along the line of contact, the cases of physical and psychological terror against the Armenians of Artsakh in the presence of peacekeepers are simply unacceptable," Nikol Pashinyan says when it is already too late.
Pashinyan also stressed "the need to clarify the details of the peacekeeping operation in Nagorno-Karabakh."
"It was necessary from the very beginning, along with the deployment of Russian peacekeeping forces in Nagorno-Karabakh. But we must admit that this process was hindered by Azerbaijan, which refused to sign a mandate for the operation of peacekeeping forces in NK, while Armenia did so in November 2020, and we expect this mandate signed in the bilateral format to function fully," Pashinyan said.
It is worth recalling that the trilateral statement signed by Nikol Pashinyan secretly from the Armenian public has long been a useless document, and Pashinyan simply explains every new aggression by Azerbaijan by the fact that there was also a "verbal agreement".
Given Azerbaijan's increasing appetite, we can understand that Pashinyan and Aliyev never stopped "verbal contacts”.
Incidentally, the demobilization of soldiers drafted from Armenia to Artsakh was carried out ahead of schedule, followed by Azerbaijan’s terrorist operation "Revenge". Obviously, the last group of conscripted soldiers were withdrawn from the Republic of Artsakh early at the behest of Azerbaijan.