I consistently inform my international colleagues, ambassadors accredited to Armenia about the continuous appearances of the criminal behavior by Azerbaijan. With a regular letter I drew the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Armenia, H.E. Mr. Sergey Kopirkin’s attention to the fact that Azerbaijan attacked Artsakh on August 1 trying to cross the contact line afterwards using mortars, grenade launchers and shock UAVs․ Since Azerbaijan again broke the Trilateral Statement from November 10, 2020 and in the result victims and casualties were registered, I requested my Russian colleague to condemn such a criminal behavior by Azerbaijan, take steps towards the stabilization of the situation in the region.
I received a letter from the Embassy of Russia in Armenia according to which the situation in the area of responsibility of Russian peacekeeping contingent and on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border is an important issue for Russian foreign policy. “We would like to draw your attention to the Statement by the MFA of Russia on August 4 with regard to the escalation of the situation on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone. The Ministry called the two sides to show restraint, hold the ceasefire regime and confirmed the necessity for the regulation in accordance with the Statements by the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia on November 10, 2020, January 11 and November 26, 2021. (...) Russian peacekeepers make all possible efforts to stabilize the situation “on the ground”. The important role of Russian peacekeeping contingent was stressed in Baku and Yerevan many times. They are sure that they totally deserve the trust. We are ready to further show any necessary support to the normalization of the ties between Armenia and Azerbaijan”.
With another letter I drew my Russian colleagues’ attention to the process of handing over the settlements Berdzor, Aghavno and Nerkin Sus to Azerbaijan. There are only a few days left for the Armenian settlements to be handed over to Azerbaijan. And as closer we get such a shameful reality imposed on the Armenians worldwide by Nikol Pashinyan’s Government, the concept of the future becomes more and more indeterminate. I informed Mr. Kopirkin with my letter about the current difficulties as well as the concerns of my deputy colleagues of Artsakh that the human, technical and transportation means are not sufficient to carry out the evacuation process in time. I asked to assist in setting up an extended deadline for the evacuation of the communities in question.
With the reply letter the Embassy of Russia in Armenia informs that the situation around the Lachin corridor should be tackled based on Paragraph 6 of the Trilateral Statement. It is worth mentioning that according to the mentioned by the Embassy of Russia in Armenia Paragraph 6, The Parties have agreed that a plan for the construction of a new route along the Lachin corridor shall be determined within the next three years, providing communication between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, with the subsequent redeployment of Russian peacekeeping troops to protect this route. Considering also the statement made by the Advisor-Envoy of the Russian Embassy in Yerevan, Mr. Maksim Seleznyov recently, that “Russian peacekeepers will not move an inch from the existing Lachin corridor until the new road is exploited”, one can assume that not everything is clear on this matter. By the way there is still more than a year left before the expiration of the specified three-year period.
The Embassy of Russia adds that discussions with interested sides are held regarding the matters raised by their letter aimed at reaching agreement satisfying everyone to realize the Trilateral Statement. “For this purpose we are in constant dialogue with Armenian and Azerbaijani sides on the highest, as well as the levels of Russian Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other agencies. Phone talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan were held on August 2 and 8․ S.V Lavrov and S.K. Shoigu had contacts with Armenian and Azerbaijani colleagues. Taking into account the sensitivity of the problematics, discussion details were not disclosed, however such conversations appear to be an important and effective tool for the regulation”.
Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs, non-partisan Taguhi Tovmasyan
