There is no talk of withdrawing Russian peacekeepers from Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). Secretary Armen Grigoryan of the Security Council of Armenia told about this to Factor TV, answering the question that the trilateral statement with the President of the European Council did not mention peacekeepers, whether the solution to the Artsakh problem also implies the removal of Russian peacekeepers.
“Why should such a matter be put? The solution of the issue, we … at this moment it is not clear in which direction we will solve the issue. When we say international presence in terms of ensuring security, it also means the presence of peacekeepers there, which will create guarantees,” Grigoryan said.
The secretary of the Security Council of Armenia expressed an opinion that there is more speculation, mental exercise there. According to him, it is possible that there may be many meetings and there may be no announcements about many things, but this does not mean anything.
“First of all, the announcements make reference to the statements that have existed since November 9 [2020]. Making a reference to the November 9 statement means recognizing the presence of [Russian] peacekeepers there and attaching importance to it. I do not see any problem in that regard, and I think they are more mental exercises,” he said.
To the question whether such a mental exercise is also the fact that the West sets a task that the Russian peacekeepers should leave Artsakh, Armen Grigoryan responded: “There has been no such discussion with us.”
Armen Grigoryan also answered the question what solutions there can be in cases when the people of Artsakh are deprived of security guarantees before the eyes of the Russian peacekeepers. The secretary of the Security Council of Armenia noted that recently Azerbaijan has been taking steps that undermine the security system and pose additional threats to the population of Artsakh.
“Sometimes additional steps can create security guarantees. For example, the peacekeepers be present but there be a mirror withdrawal [of Armenian and Azerbaijani troops] from the line of contact, and that can be an additional security guarantee. There can be many such matters. In addition, steps can be taken in other directions so that security guarantees be stronger, people feel safer,” Armen Grigoryan said.