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    Categories: 2021

Mandate of Russian peacekeepers in Artsakh should be ‘open-ended’, Kocharyan says

Panorama, Armenia
June 15 2021

Second President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan believes that the mandate of the Russian peacekeepers in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) should be “open-ended”.

“The mandate has a time restriction. Nobody knows what will come next. The uncertainty over the future mandate of the peacekeepers is the biggest problem. I believe it would be better to make the mandate open-ended without any timeframes specified,” Kocharyan said in an interview with several Russian media outlets on Tuesday.

He underlined that if four and a half years later Azerbaijan opposes the presence of Russian peacekeepers, according to the November 9 statement, they will have to withdraw from Artsakh.

The ex-president said all plans in Karabakh are limited by this period. “People are not able to plan their future. It raises a lot of questions and causes great anxiety," he said.

Assessing the effectiveness of the peacekeeping forces’ mission, Kocharyan highlighted the absence of major clashes since their deployment as a “sign of respect” for the Russian peacekeeping mission by the sides.

"The peacekeeping mission apparently works in such a way to earn the respect," the former president said.

Emil Lazarian: “I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.” - WS