Armenia says concerned by Russian peacekeepers' role

Armenia's prime Minister expressed concern on Tuesday (10 January) over the inability of Russian peacekeepers around the disputed Nagorno Karabakh region. Azerbaijan stated that time was running out to reach a lasting peace agreement.

Yerevan asks the Russian peacekeepers for an end to the month-long Azeri blockade on the only road connecting Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. This is a predominantly Armenian enclave that is internationally recognized as being part of Azerbaijan.

"We don't criticize Russian peacekeepers but we do express concern over their activities and this concern has long-standing roots," Nikol Pashinyan, Armenian Prime Minister, stated to Russian state news agency TASS.

Moscow and Yerevan have a mutual defense pact. However, Russia strives to establish good relations with Armenia's arch enemy Azerbaijan.

A group of Azeris who identify themselves as environmental activists are leading the blockade.

Armenia claims that the group is composed of agitators who are backed by the Baku government and bent on provoking tensions. Azerbaijan claims they are eco-activists who protest against Armenian mining activities and allow humanitarian traffic to pass along the road.

Officials from Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh warned of a humanitarian crisis within the region.

According to Hetq, Pashinyan said that Moscow should allow for an international peacekeeping force if the road is closed again in December.

Pashinyan stated Tuesday that Armenia will not host drills on its territory with the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (a Russian-led alliance post-Soviet states) in 2023.

When asked about the move, Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesperson, said that Armenia was "our very closest ally" and that they would continue to dialogue.

Russia's foreign ministry stated last month that its peacekeepers, which were deployed along the Nagorno–Karabakh contact line and along the Lachin corridor, were doing all they could to stabilize the situation.

BORDER THREATS

Azerbaijan and Armenia have fought numerous times over Nagorno-Karabakh. This region was liberated from Baku's control after a war in 1990.

Azerbaijan took back territory around Nagorno Karabakh in 2020 in a second conflict that ended with a Moscow-brokered ceasefire, and the deployment Russian troops along the Lachin corridor.

Yerevan called it unprovoked aggression. Azerbaijan claimed that its soldiers reacted to Armenian sabotage units trying to mine its positions.

Azeri Republic President Ilham Aliyev said in a Tuesday televised national address that Armenia would lose if they fail to reach a peace agreement this year.

"We can live as this for a long period of time... "They (Armenia) don’t want (border delineation), which means that the border will pass wherever we deem necessary," he stated, noting the expiration of the Russian peacekeepers’ mandate in 2025.

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