11:11, 9 October 2023
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 9, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict is still unresolved, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin has said.
In an interview with RBC, Galuzin praised the Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh for what he described as playing an “essential role” in providing humanitarian assistance to the civilians after the September 19-20 Azeri attack.
He said that the Nagorno-Karabakh authorities’ decision to disband their government doesn’t mean that the conflict situation is over between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
“And here the complex of the trilateral agreements between the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia is still relevant,” Galuzin said, mentioning that the agreements pertain to the unblocking of the transport and economic routes between Armenia and Azerbaijan, border delimitation and demarcation, signing of the peace treaty and establishment of contacts between public figures, expert circles and parliamentarians from both countries. “All of this should lead to mutually acceptable conditions of resolution that will be stipulated in the future treaty. And Russia, as an honest broker, that has collegial and allied relations with both countries, will seek to support in order for sustainable and balanced agreements to be reached between the two neighbors,” the Russian Deputy FM said.
The mass exodus of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh began after the September 19-20 Azerbaijani attack which ended after Nagorno-Karabakh authorities agreed to Azerbaijan’s terms in a Russian-brokered ceasefire deal.
Over 100,500 forcibly displaced Armenians have crossed into Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh.
“Many residents of Karabakh made a difficult decision to leave. But at the same time, we believe that the Russian peacekeeping contingent’s mission remains more than demanded,” Galuzin said, adding that the peacekeepers would be necessary in the future as well.
The terms of the 2020 ceasefire agreement, officially known as the 9 November 2020 trilateral statement by the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, provide for a repeated extension of the Russian peacekeeping contingent’s mission by five more years if Armenia and Azerbaijan do not object to that.