Russia deployed the 2,000 or so peacekeepers along the current Karabakh “line of contact” and a road connecting the enclave to Armenia following the 2020 Armenian-Azerbaijani war. Under the terms of a ceasefire agreement brokered by Moscow, they are due to stay there for at least five years. The agreement says that the peacekeeping operation can be repeatedly extended by five more years if Armenia and Azerbaijan do not object to that.
“We hope that it will be possible to enhance the effectiveness of the Russian peacekeeping mission and ensure its indefinite presence in Karabakh as the most important security guarantee for our people, even if it’s not a full-fledged one,” Harutiunian said in a video address aired late on Monday.
That guarantee has shown “some cracks” lately, he said, clearly referring to Azerbaijani military operations conducted in and around Karabakh earlier in this year. He claimed that Baku is taking advantage of Russia’s “busyness” with the conflict in Ukraine.
Harutiunian’s address followed last week’s deadly fighting on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border which marked the worst escalation of the Karabakh conflict since the 2020 war.
“We have to frankly admit that the Armenian statehood is now on the brink of a new and disastrous war, the consequences of which could be no less severe than those of the [44-day] war,” warned the Karabakh leader.
Harutiunian attended an emergency session of Armenia’s Security Council held on September 15 the day after the border clashes were halted by a fresh ceasefire. He brought up the Karabakh Armenians’ concerns over Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s September 14 remarks that sparked angry protests in Yerevan.
Pashinian expressed readiness to sign an unpopular peace treaty with Azerbaijan “as a result of which many people will criticize, curse and declare us traitors.” This fueled rumors that the Armenian government is ready to recognize Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh.
Harutiunian again said on Monday that Armenia’s leadership has assured him that it will not sign any Karabakh-related deals with Azerbaijan “without discussing it with us and taking into account the Karabakh people’s opinion.”