On August 5, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov responded to earlier remarks by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan criticizing the Russian peacekeeping forces for failing to prevent the recent escalation in the Karabakh. “We have not seen specific proposals, which the Prime Minister of Armenia wants to put up for discussion in the context of the Russian peacekeeping operation in Nagorno-Karabakh,” Lavrov said at a press conference. “Any of the parties to the agreements that were reached by the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan and the Prime Minister of Armenia has the right to propose additional initiatives,” he added.
On the same day, Vahan Hunanyan, the Spokesperson of the Armenian Foreign Ministry, responded to Lavrov's remarks by saying that the concerns of Armenia regarding the need to increase the effectiveness of activities of Russian peacekeeping troops in the future, among other cases, have been submitted in written form to the top leadership of Russia in February 2021.
On August 4, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that close contact at various levels between Russia and Armenia would help to clarify questions. "There are trilateral agreements, which serve as the starting point," Peskov stated at a news briefing. "The most important thing is to implement all obligations, which the parties assumed under these documents." "If there are questions, they must be certainly answered," he continued. "At the same time, all close contacts, which we enjoy at various levels with the Armenian side, will help us to clear all persisting questions."
As previously reported by the Caucasus Watch, Pashinyan emphasized the necessity for clarification of the specifics of the Russian peacekeeping mission in Karabakh. Pashinyan charged the peacekeepers with supporting the capturing the Parukh/Farrukh in March 2022 and the villages of Khtzaberd/Chaylaggala and Khin Taher/Old Taglar in December 2020 and the capture of the Armenian forces there. Pashinyan criticized the peacekeepers' inaction in the circumstance. Therefore, he continued, "it is important to define the Nagorno-Karabakh peacekeeping operation." Pashinyan claims that Azerbaijan refuses to do so despite Armenia signing the mandate for the troops in November 2020.
Further, he expressed dissatisfaction that peacekeepers do not protect the line of contact - their area of responsibility. He also accused Azerbaijan of seeking to abolish the existence of the concept of "Nagorno-Karabakh," calling it a violation of the tripartite statement. "Armenia hopes that Russian peacekeepers will prevent any attempt to violate the line of contact, and the Azerbaijani units that violated it will be withdrawn," Pashinyan concluded.
