Monday,
Armenian, Azeri Leaders Say Ready To Meet
• Heghine Buniatian
Germany -- Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian (R) and Azerbaijani President
Ilham Aliyev meet in Munich, February 15, 2020.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
expressed readiness on Monday to meet in Moscow for urgent talks on the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
The two men were interviewed by the official Russian news agency TASS as heavy
fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces continued in and around
Karabakh.
“The Karabakh conflict must be resolved by exclusively peaceful means … And I’m
ready to make every effort to achieve such a result, including to travel [to
Moscow,] meet and talk,” said Pashinian.
He said that Armenia remains committed to a “compromise” peace deal. “If there
is no such readiness on the opposite side we are ready to fight till the end for
our people, our compatriots in Nagorno-Karabakh,” he said.
Aliyev said, for his part, that Baku is “prepared for any contacts” with
Yerevan. “We are always ready to meet in Moscow or any other place to end the
conflict and reach a settlement,” he told TASS.
Aliyev noted at the same time that he has received “no such invitation” from
Russia yet.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov hosted on October 9-10 talks between his
Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts that resulted in an agreement to stop
hostilities in the conflict zone. However, the fighting has continued since
then, with each side accusing the other of violating the agreement.
Lavrov said earlier on Monday that Moscow keeps pressing the sides to stop the
war and resume “substantive” peace talks that will center on a framework peace
accord proposed by the Russian, French and U.S. co-chairs of the Minsk Group.
Aliyev said that unlike Armenia’s current leadership he supports the proposed
settlement that calls, among other things, for Armenian withdrawal from
districts around Karabakh before an agreement on the disputed territory’s
status, the main bone of contention.
Pashinian put the emphasis on Azerbaijan’s recognition of the Karabakh
Armenians’ right to self-determination. This issue is of “strategic importance”
to the Armenian side, he said.
UN Chief Urges Armenia, Azerbaijan To Restore Truce
• Heghine Buniatian
U.S. -- Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, speaking
during the 75th General Assembly of the United Nations, in New York, September
21, 2020
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on Armenia and
Azerbaijan to respect their latest ceasefire agreement and resume peace talks
mediated by France, Russia and the United States.
“The Secretary-General deeply regrets that the sides have continuously ignored
the repeated calls of the international community to immediately stop the
fighting,” read a statement released by a spokesman for Guterres on Sunday.
“The Secretary-General notes the latest announcement on the start of the
humanitarian truce on 18 October and expects both parties to fully abide by this
commitment and resume substantive negotiations without delay under the auspices
of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs,” it said.
The truce was due to come into force early on Sunday. However, hostilities in
the Karabakh conflict zone have continued since then, with each side accusing
the other of violating the agreement.
Guterres also condemned shelling of civilian areas which has killed dozens of
people from both sides.
“The tragic loss of civilian lives, including children, from the latest reported
strike on 16 October on the [Azerbaijani] city of Ganja is totally unacceptable,
as are indiscriminate attacks on populated areas anywhere, including in
Stepanakert/Khankendi and other localities in and around the immediate
Nagorno-Karabakh zone of conflict,” said the statement.
“As [Guterres] underscored again in his latest calls with the Foreign Ministers
of Armenia and Azerbaijan, both sides have the obligation under international
humanitarian law to take constant care to spare and protect civilians and
civilian infrastructure in the conduct of military operations,” it said.
Russia ‘Keeps Trying’ To Stop Karabakh War
RUSSIA -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks during a joint press
conference with his Armenian counterpart Zohrab Mnatsakanian following their
talks in Moscow on October 12, 2020.
Russia keeps pressing Armenia and Azerbaijan to work out a “verification
mechanism” that would ensure their compliance with ceasefire agreements reached
by them, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday.
“In order for the ceasefire to work -- we have seen that after two documents
that were adopted but did not allow to radically change the situation on the
ground -- [it is necessary] to create a mechanism to verify compliance with the
ceasefire regime,” Lavrov told reporters in Moscow.
“We, including our Defense Ministry, are actively working on that, with
colleagues from Azerbaijan and Armenia in the first instance,” he said,
according to the TASS news agency. “I hope that such a mechanism will be agreed
on in the very near future.”
Lavrov made a case for such a mechanism after an Armenian-Azerbaijani ceasefire
agreement brokered by Russia on October 10 failed to stop hostilities in and
around Nagorno-Karabakh. He said Moscow is ready to deploy “military observers”
to the conflict zone as part of such an arrangement. Azerbaijan reportedly
objected to the idea.
According to a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, the Russians
tried unsuccessfully to organize a meeting of Armenian and Azerbaijani military
officials last week. She said representatives of the Armenian Defense Ministry
flew to Moscow but the meeting did not take place because their Azerbaijani
counterparts did not show up.
Lavrov again spoke with his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts on Saturday.
The separate phone calls were followed by the announcement of another
Armenian-Azerbaijani truce agreement which was reportedly brokered by France.
Fighting in Karabakh continued even after that deal, which the warring sides
accusing each other of not respecting it.
Lavrov on Monday also urged the sides as well as “international players” to tone
down their “confrontational rhetoric.” “The next absolutely necessary step … is
a halt to the hostilities and strikes on civilian areas,” he said.
Earlier in the day the Armenian Foreign Ministry insisted that Yerevan remains
“faithful” to the truce agreements. It claimed that Baku “does not want or is
unable to implement” them.
Trump Praises Armenians On Campaign Trail
• Harry Tamrazian
U.S. President Donald Trump holds a campaign rally at John Murtha
Johnstown-Cambria County Airport in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, October 13, 2020.
U.S. President Donald Trump has lavished praise on Americans of Armenian descent
and said his administration is “working” to address their concerns.
Trump reacted to a supportive chant from an Armenian American woman as he spoke
at an election campaign rally in Nevada on Sunday. “We are working on some
things,” he said without elaborating.
“Armenians, they are good people,” Trump went on. “They are great businesspeople
too, you know … Where I just left there were some many Armenians with beautiful
flags. We’re working on some things.”
“People from Armenia, they have a great spirit for their country. Thank you very
much,” he added.
Trump spoke after being greeted in neighboring California by Armenian American
supporters who waved Armenian flags and urged the U.S. administration to
recognize Nagorno-Karabakh and help stop Turkey’s military support for
Azerbaijan.
Trump has still not publicly commented on the hostilities in and around Karabakh
that broke out on September 27. But U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has
repeatedly called for an end to the fighting.
On Thursday Pompeo also criticized Turkey’s involvement in the conflict. “We now
have the Turks, who have stepped in and provided resources to Azerbaijan,
increasing the risk, increasing the firepower that’s taking place in this
historic fight,” he told broadcaster WSB Atlanta.
“We’re hopeful that the Armenians will be able to defend against what the
Azerbaijanis are doing, and that they will all, before that takes place, get the
ceasefire right, and then sit down at the table and try and sort through this,”
Pompeo said in remarks criticized by Azerbaijan.
The United States, Russia and France have long been leading international
efforts to end the Karabakh conflict through the Minsk Group of the Organization
for Security Organization in Europe.
Moscow brokered an Armenian-Azerbaijani ceasefire agreement on October 10.
Hostilities in the conflict zone have continued since then, however.
Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, Trump’s Democratic rival in the November 3
presidential election, last week expressed deep concern over the “collapse” of
the ceasefire and accused the Trump administration of being “largely passive and
disengaged.”
Karabakh Ceasefire Still Not Holding
NAGORNO-KARABAKH -- An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) explodes atop of a mountain
outside Stepanakert,
Hostilities in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone reportedly continued on Monday
two days after another humanitarian ceasefire agreement announced by Armenia and
Azerbaijan.
Karabakh’s Armenian-backed army said Azerbaijani forces again started shelling
in the morning its frontline positions north and south of Karabakh. It said its
troops are “taking adequate measures” in response.
Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said, for its part, that Armenian forces shelled
Azerbaijani districts north and east of Karabakh overnight and in the morning.
The conflicting parties continued to accuse each other of not respecting the
ceasefire agreement which was reportedly brokered by French President Emmanuel
Macron and was supposed to come into force on Sunday morning.
“Minutes after the announcement of the humanitarian truce, the Azerbaijani armed
forces resumed hostilities and on the morning of October 18 launched a
large-scale offensive on the southern front,” the Armenian Foreign Ministry said
in a statement.
“In fact, this is the second ceasefire agreement that Azerbaijan does not want
or is unable to implement,” it added, referring to a similar deal that was
brokered by Russia on October 10.
Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanian and his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le
Drian discussed the situation on the ground in a phone call on Sunday. According
to his press office, Mnatsakanian “reaffirmed Armenia’s commitment to
strengthening the ceasefire regime.”
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev claimed, meanwhile, that it was the Armenian
side that “blatantly violated” the truce agreement early on Sunday. He said at
the same time that the Azerbaijani army has made more territorial gains since
then.
Karabakh authorities said that the Karabakh town of Martuni and several villages
came under Azerbaijani rocket fire on the night from Sunday to Monday. But the
Karabakh capital Stepanakert was not shelled for a second consecutive night,
RFE/RL correspondent Susan Badalian reported from the scene.
Most local residents continued to stay in basements and bomb shelters. Some of
them told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that they expect renewed shelling.
Many buildings in Stepanakert have been seriously damaged since the start of the
war on September 27.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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