Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Thursday (August 3rd) called on Russian peacekeepers deployed in Nagorny Karabkh to act after a new outbreak of violence between the Azerbaijani army and Armenian separatists in this disputed enclave.
“
In Nagorny Karabakh, there is a line of contact where peacekeepers are deployed, and this territory is under their responsibility.
We expect every attempt to breach the line of contact to be prevented by the contingent of peacekeepers
,” he told a government meeting.
The day before, Azerbaijan had claimed to have taken control of several positions and destroyed Armenian targets in Nagorny Karabakh, during an escalation which left at least three dead and revived the risk of war.
According to Mr. Pashinian, the peacekeeping operation must be "
clarified
", because Azerbaijan refuses to sign "
a document on the mandate
" of this Russian force deployed since November 2020. He also asked Azerbaijan to fulfill "
its obligations
": to recognize "
the existence of Nagorny Karabakh
", to respect the line of contact, and to recognize the "
Lachin corridor
", which connects the separatist enclave to Armenia.
"
Otherwise, we must promote international mechanisms for Azerbaijan to fulfill its obligations
,” he continued.
Read alsoNew outbreak of violence in Karabakh, Baku takes several positions
The recent incidents risk weighing on the peace talks mediated by the European Union which have been taking place for several months between Azerbaijan and Armenia, two rival ex-Soviet republics in the Caucasus.
After a war that killed more than 30,000 people in the early 1990s, the two countries clashed again in the fall of 2020 to control Nagorny Karabakh, a mountainous region which, supported by Yerevan, seceded from Israel. Azerbaijan.
More than 6,500 people were killed during this new war lost by Armenia, which ceded important territories to Azerbaijan.
After a ceasefire agreement signed in November 2020, Moscow deployed peacekeepers to Nagorny Karabakh, but armed incidents remain frequent.