Second President Robert Kocharyan on Tuesday raised the urgency of lifting the time restrictions for Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) to make the mission “open-ended”.
In an extensive interview with several Russian media outlets, the former president expressed concern, especially, over the “problematic nature” of the initially established five-year period.
“The mandate has a time restriction. Nobody knows what is to come next. That’s the biggest problem, i.e. – the uncertainty over the peacekeepers’ future mandate – and their presence on the whole. It is five years there. I think it would be better to make the mandate open-ended to avoid specifying any timeframes at all. I create a real problem, as Azerbaijan is entitled – in the four years to come – to notify Russia of its opposition to prolonging the peacekeepers’ mandate. And Russia will be forced to withdraw from there as per the statement,” he told correspondents of RIA Novosti, Sputnik Armenia and Russia Today.
Evaluating the overall effectiveness of the peacekeeping forces’ mission, Kocharyan pointed out to the absence of clashes and armed incidents ever since their deployment (after the end of the 44-day war on November 10) as a “sign of respect” for the mission (by both Armenia and Azerbaijan). “The peacekeeping mission, apparently, works well enough to earn the respect,” the former president added.
Meantime he agreed that the existing uncertainties in Armenia and Karabakh prevent both the governments and the societies in the two Armenian republics from “planning their future”.
The former president said he also feels that last year’s war in Karabakh made Russia extremely sensitive (as the country, which is Armenia’s strategic ally, is required to maintain parity with the OSCE Minsk Group, of which it is a co-chair).
“Additionally, Russia is Azerbaijan’s neighbour. Moscow is trying to establish friendly relations with Baku. The situation is very complicated. Armenia’s expectations did not coincide with what Russia could possibly do in that situation. The picture for it is not just black and white; it is rather sensitive,” he added.
As the only right step in that context, Kocharyan stressed the importance of timely action to stop the war. “Russia was trying to do that,” he noted.
The 44-day war in Nagorno-Karabakh ended on November 9 after the Russian, Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders signed a trilateral deal on the cessation of the hostilities and the deployment of Russian peacekeeping forces in the conflict zone. Under the document, the seven liberated regions surrounding Karabakh, as well as districts of Shushi and Hadrut (apart from one village), rural settlements from the Askeran and Martuni districts and the villages of Talish and Mataghis (Martakert region) passed under Azerbaijani control.
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