The situation along Armenia’s north-eastern border with Azerbaijan has relatively stabilized in the past couple of days despite the adversary’s repeated attempts to violate the ceasefire, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in his recent interview with the Russian RBC TV portal.
“The situation along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the Line of Contact between Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan can be evaluated as relatively stable. Of course, the armed forces of Azerbaijan continue, regrettably, violating the ceasefire regime, but the gunfire attacks are on a normal level today compared to what we had in the past ten years,” he noted.
The premier also praised Moscow’s “pivotal role” in de-escalating the cross-border violence.
“The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group played a very important stabilizing role. Especially Russia’s role is underlined here, and I believe the Kremlin’s actions – as well as the engagement by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Armed Forces Headquarters – played a pivotal role in contributing to the relative peace we have now. Russia’s role, of course, is exclusively constructive,” he added.
Another question for Armenia, Pashinyan said, is Russia’s somewhat unequivocal attitude to its strategic ally in the light of Turkey’s resolute support to Azerbaijan.
“It is important to have the understanding that Russia is a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, which deals with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Russia is a key mediator, and its actions must fit into those specific frameworks,” he added.
Azerbaijani combat troops launched series of attacks against north-eastern Armenian military outposts on July 12. In the early morning hours, the Ministry of Defense reported an incursion attempt by several Azerbaijani servicemen who wanted to cross into the Tavush region in a jeep car. After a warning by the Armenian side, they returned to the starting positions, leaving the vehicle on Armenia’s territory.
The adversary repeated the border transgression attempt about an hour later, opening fire in the same direction, but was subsequently suppressed and pushed back with losses. Armenia reported no casualties at the time.
Azerbaijan kept the north-eastern outposts under fire also on July 13 and 14. The tensions gradually abated the following days.
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The Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh broke out in 1988 when the Armenian majority of the then autonomous region declared its intention to break away from Azerbaijan. In a referendum held on December 10, 1991 (days before the collapse of the USSR), the population voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence (99.89%). The move was followed by Azerbaijan’s large-scale military operations against Nagorno-Karabakh and seven neighboring regions. The armed violence left around 25,000-30,000 people dead; thousands were internally displaced. The Ceasefire Accord, which went into effect in May 1994, formally put an end to the armed attacks in the conflict zone, but sporadic fighting in the area breaks out time and again. Since 1994, the OSCE Minsk Group, a mission co-chaired by France, the United States and Russia, has been spearheading the efforts towards a peaceful solution to the conflict. .
The hostilities escalated to an unprecedented degree in April 2016 in what was later dubbed a Four-Day War. In the early hours of April 1, 2016, Azerbaijan’s armed forces launched heavy offensives along the Line of Contact, provoking large-scale confrontations with the Defense Army of Nagorno-Kkarabakh. The adversary also shelled civilian settlements, particularly the southern and north-eastern regions of Hadrut and Marakert.
A ceasefire was reached on 5 April between the chiefs of the armed forces of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Moscow. The Nagorno-Karabakh authorities also welcomed the verbal agreement.
https://www.tert.am/en/news/2020/07/28/pashinyan-interview/3355996
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