The Security Council of the Republic of Artsakh addressed an official letter to the Chair of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, particularly noting, “In addition to restraining the current Azerbaijani aggression and withdrawing their positions from the Azerbaijani armed forces, we ask you to review the current number of Russian peacekeepers and the means of service, to increase the means of both servicemen and military equipment, respectively.”
The guest of Aravot’s “Areresum (Confrontation)” program, the head of “Voskanapat” analytical center Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan said in this regard, “It is difficult to say that by referring to that request, Russia can increase troops or technical means, because in any case, the number of Russian peacekeepers was conditioned by the trilateral statements signed on November 9 and then in January, which clearly stated how many peacekeepers are needed and how many should be in Artsakh. But there is another important circumstance here: Russia does not need that number to ensure peace in Artsakh. Russia’s political influence should be enough to prevent Azerbaijan from carrying out other provocative programs or taking such steps, if necessary. The Armenian side must understand that the problem here is political, I would even say geopolitical, that is, it is not technical, so much so that the number of people is not enough.”
According to Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan, “Now, at a time when many may get the impression that the special military operation in Ukraine has slowed down to some extent or Russia is not able to solve its problems completely, naturally, against this background they will try a second or open the third fronts. And in my opinion, it is here that Russia must clearly show whether it is the state that can have such ambitions to increase its influence in this region or not. In other words, can it serve 2-3 or, if necessary, 4 fronts, or not?”
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Earlier, Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan expressed an opinion in a Facebook post. “The Russian peacekeeping mission in Artsakh is on the verge of failure today. They have taken responsibility for ensuring stability on our geopolitical front, they are failing that work. They are failing disgracefully.”
The other guest of the “Areresum” program, Angela Elibegova, an expert on Azerbaijan, said, “Everyone in society has objective demands and questions towards the peacekeepers, I think, and those questions are justified, because what is happening around Parukh, we did not receive an article-by-article explanation from the RA authorities, the Artsakh authorities, or the peacekeepers. Why did it happen and why did it become possible at all? In other words, there is an objective criticism here, which must reach a place. But when we cross the red line from reasonable criticism and start demanding that the peacekeepers leave, we must understand what the layer of society that demands the removal of the peacekeepers suggests instead?” There are calls that if Russia fails to ensure the security of Artsakh, let international peacekeepers come out to Artsakh.
Angela Elibegova responded to this. “I do not see a parade of international peacekeepers and a queue of those who want to come here. Secondly, this composition of peacekeepers must be acceptable not only for Armenia, but we must not forget that our enemy state must also approve it. It is not like who we pointed at, they will come, line up there and protect us. The situation is not so clear. We must understand that when we say, ‘leave, go,’ what are we going to do when they leave? If we have the answer to that question, if the people who offer it to us can explain in articles what to do․․․
Either they are going to come and defend that border when they say take out the Russian peacekeepers, or they have some alternative military units that have already stated that they agree to come and Azerbaijan and Armenia have agreed to come. If all this does not exist, this can lead us to a very dangerous place where aggression against the Russian peacekeepers is increasing, and the red line is already moving in an incomprehensible direction from the objective criticism. And by the way, it happens not only here, but also in Azerbaijan. ”
Anna ISRAELYAN
