Thursday,
Moscow Calls For Restored Gas Supplies To Nagorno-Karabakh
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova (file photo).
Russia has called on Azerbaijan and Armenia to resolve the issue of natural gas
supplies to Nagorno-Karabakh as soon as possible “to avoid further aggravation
of the difficult humanitarian situation in the region.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during a weekly news
briefing on Thursday that Moscow has been in contacts with both sides on the
matter.
“Corresponding work is being carried out through our country’s Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Energy, as well as Gazprom. We
proceed from the understanding that one should not aggravate what is already a
difficult humanitarian situation, and ordinary people should not suffer,”
Zakharova said, as quoted by Russia’s Tass news agency.
On Tuesday, the Armenian Foreign Ministry accused Azerbaijan of cutting off gas
supply to Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenia on territory controlled by its military.
As a result of the second disruption of gas supply to Stepanakert and other
towns in Nagorno-Karabakh within a space of two weeks ethnic Armenians in the
region face difficulties in heating their homes in still freezing temperatures
as well as in running their businesses, including bakeries.
Nagorno-Karabakh, an autonomous region in Soviet Azerbaijan, has been claiming
its independence from Baku since the collapse of the Soviet Union and a
separatist war waged in the early 1990s that also led to ethnic Armenians’
making territorial gains inside Azerbaijan proper.
The standoff with Baku led to another war in 2020 as a result of which
Azerbaijani forces gained control of parts of Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as seven
adjacent districts that had been under Armenian control since 1994.
Some 2,000 Russian troops were deployed in the region to monitor the ceasefire
following a Moscow-brokered truce.
Azerbaijan Accused Of Violating Line Of Contact In Nagorno-Karabakh
• Artak Khulian
A Russian peacekeeper patrols at the check point outside Askeran in
Nagorno-Karabakh (file photo).
Ethnic Armenian authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh have accused Azerbaijan of
violating the line of contact in the east of the region by the advancement of
its troops denied by Baku.
Nagorno-Karabakh’s Information Headquarters, an agency affiliated with the
mostly Armenian-populated region’s de facto authorities, said Azerbaijani forces
had advanced in the direction of the village of Parukh in the Askeran region. It
said it happened at around 4:00 pm (1 pm CET) on Thursday.
Representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh’s Defense Army and the Russian peacekeeping
force have reportedly been trying to hold negotiations with the Azerbaijani side
to persuade it stop its further advancement and withdraw.
No information about any fighting or casualties was immediately reported in the
context of the incident. But authorities in Stepanakert said that women and
children of the nearby village of Khramort had been evacuated for security
reasons.
“We urge the population to remain calm. The situation on all other sections of
the line of contact is stable at the moment,” Nagorno-Karabakh’s Information
Headquarters said.
In a statement released later on Thursday Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry denied
any advancement of its troops “in the territory of Azerbaijan where the Russian
peacekeeping contingent is temporarily deployed.”
It said that “specifications of positions and locations are taking place at the
site” and that “no clashes or incidents have occurred.”
“Armenian media artificially exaggerate the situation. The goal is to create an
atmosphere that can cause hysteria and mislead the public. There is no reason to
worry,” the ministry said, as quoted by the Azerbaijani news website Haqqin.az.
Meanwhile, the Armenian Foreign Ministry issued a statement, saying that
“Azerbaijan’s aggressive actions once again show that official Baku continues to
grossly violate the terms of the November 9, 2020 trilateral statement [on
ceasefire].”
At least one civilian in the village of Khramort was injured by mortar fire as
Nagorno-Karabakh accused Azerbaijan of violating the ceasefire in the direction
of this and several other Armenian communities earlier this month.
Local residents were in particular alarmed by Azerbaijan’s deployment of
military equipment at their positions situated not far from the village. The
Russian peacekeepers set up a permanent post in the village two weeks ago, after
which no serious incidents have been reported.
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry had denied targeting civilians during those
incidents. It had accused Armenian forces of firing at its troops deployed in
the adjacent Agdam district.
Khramort mayor Zorik Abrahamian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service in the late
afternoon that the situation in the village was “very serious.” He declined to
elaborate.
Nagorno-Karabakh, an autonomous region in Soviet Azerbaijan, has been claiming
its independence from Baku since the collapse of the Soviet Union and a
separatist war waged in the early 1990s that also led to ethnic Armenians’
making territorial gains inside Azerbaijan proper.
The standoff with Baku led to another war in 2020 in which about 7,000 soldiers
and more than 200 civilians were killed. As a result of that war Azerbaijani
forces gained control of parts of Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as seven adjacent
districts that had been under Armenian control since 1994.
Some 2,000 Russian troops were deployed in the region to monitor the ceasefire
following a Moscow-brokered truce.
Armenian Government Criticized Over Crisis In Nagorno-Karabakh
• Astghik Bedevian
Ishkhan Saghatelian (in the front row center) and other members of the
opposition Hayastan faction in the Armenian parliament (file photo).
Two opposition factions in the Armenian parliament have leveled harsh criticism
at the government, accusing it of not doing enough to ensure the security of
Nagorno-Karabakh.
During news briefings in parliament on Thursday lawmakers representing the
Hayastan and Pativ Unem factions, in particular, referred to the current
situation with discontinued gas supply to Nagorno-Karabakh that de-facto
authorities in the Armenian-populated region blame on Azerbaijan.
“The current government of Armenia is trying to wash its hands, giving up on the
Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh – ed.] issue. The Republic of Armenia thus renounces
its obligation to guarantee the sovereignty and security of Artsakh,” Deputy
Parliament Speaker Ishkhan Saghatelian, of the Hayastan faction, claimed.
Pativ Unem’s Tigran Abrahamian, meanwhile, criticized the government for lacking
a long-term strategy on Nagorno-Karabakh in conditions of increased pressure on
the region from Azerbaijan.
Tigran Abrahamian, a member of the opposition Pativ Unem faction in parliament
(file photo).
“The problem here is not only gas supply, the problem here is not only the
implementation of certain social programs, the problem is much more complicated,
it is much bigger. Regardless of the fact that these issues cannot be solved
within a couple of days, the government must have complex programs that also
take into account the security component, because the accumulation of these
issues, the failure to resolve these issues can lead to two major consequences –
either there will be an exodus of Armenians from Artsakh, or it may lead to a
new war,” Abrahamian said.
During a government session earlier on Thursday, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian acknowledged that the second disruption of natural gas supply to
Nagorno-Karabakh this month has brought the region to the verge of a
“humanitarian disaster.”
He said that Armenia is raising this issue with the international community.
Speaking in parliament on Wednesday, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan
also said that Yerevan is using all diplomatic channels to achieve a solution to
the gas supply issue in Nagorno-Karabakh that creates humanitarian problems for
the region’s population in conditions of still freezing temperatures despite
early spring.
Mirzoyan also reaffirmed that Armenia is seeking peace talks with Azerbaijan
that would, among other things, address the rights and status of Armenians in
Nagorno-Karabakh.
Pro-government Civil Contract faction member Arman Yeghoyan also said during
today’s news briefings that both the government and parliamentarians are working
with international partners on a daily basis regarding the situation with the
discontinued gas supply to Nagorno-Karabakh.
Nagorno-Karabakh ‘On The Verge Of A Humanitarian Disaster’
• Anush Mkrtchian
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian during a government session (file photo).
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has accused Azerbaijan of deliberately
discontinuing natural gas supply to Nagorno-Karabakh, claiming that the
Armenian-populated region is “on the verge of a humanitarian disaster.”
Addressing a government session in Yerevan on Thursday, Pashinian said that both
cases of the disruption of natural gas supply to Nagorno-Karabakh this month
happened during unprecedented harsh weather conditions in the region.
The first disruption of the supply on March 8 due to reported damage to a
pipeline pumping natural gas from Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh on a section
passing through Baku-controlled territory lasted for 11 days as the region’s
de-facto ethnic Armenian authorities accused Azerbaijan of not allowing their
maintenance workers to repair the vital infrastructure.
Gas supply was resumed on March 19 after Azerbaijan reportedly repaired the
pipeline following calls from international organizations, including the
European Union.
But gas supply again was interrupted on March 21 when Nagorno-Karabakh’s de
facto authorities accused Baku of having turned off the valve on the pipeline
that the Azerbaijani side had purportedly installed during the repairs.
The disruptions of the supply of vital fuel used by people in Stepanakert and
elsewhere in the region for heating their homes and for business activities came
amid still freezing temperatures despite early spring.
Armenia’s Foreign Ministry condemned what it described as unacceptable behavior
on the part of Azerbaijan in a statement issued on March 22.
Not specifically referring to the issue of natural gas supply to
Nagorno-Karabakh, a spokeswoman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry on
Wednesday advised that “Armenia should not interfere in Azerbaijan’s internal
affairs.”
Armenia’s prime minister today also insisted that Azerbaijan had installed a
valve on the gas pipeline during the repairs. “This indisputably shows
Azerbaijan’s policy towards the Armenians of Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh – ed.],
that is, to make it impossible for them to live in their native land,” Pashinian
said, stressing that Yerevan has widely presented the issue to the international
community.
Nagorno-Karabakh, an autonomous region in Soviet Azerbaijan, has been claiming
its independence from Baku since the collapse of the Soviet Union and a
separatist war waged in the early 1990s that also led to ethnic Armenians’
making territorial gains inside Azerbaijan proper.
The standoff with Baku led to another war in 2020 as a result of which
Azerbaijani forces gained control of parts of Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as seven
adjacent districts that had been under Armenian control since 1994. Some 2,000
Russian troops were deployed in the region to monitor the cease-fire following a
Moscow-brokered truce.
In his remarks today the Armenian premier also insisted that “Azerbaijan will
not be able to divert Armenia from the peace agenda.” He stressed that there is
no alternative to “Armenia’s policy of ushering in an era of peace” in the
region.
“With its actions and various provocations Azerbaijan is trying to divert us
from the peace agenda in order to implement its policy of provoking new
escalations and new wars in the region. But we should not give in to such
provocations,” Pashinian said.
The Armenian prime minister reaffirmed that Azerbaijan’s five-point proposal for
starting negotiations around a peace treaty with Armenia contained “nothing
unacceptable for Yerevan.”
“It is another thing that these proposals do not address all the issues on the
Armenia-Azerbaijan comprehensive peace agenda. We have completed the agenda with
our reply to the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, so we are ready to start peace
talks on that basis,” Pashinian said.
Baku insists that a future peace treaty with Yerevan should be based on five
fundamental principles, including mutual recognition of each other’s sovereignty
and territorial integrity, mutual reaffirmation of the absence of territorial
claims to each other and a legally binding obligation not to make such claims in
the future, abstaining from threatening each other’s security, delimitation and
demarcation of the border with the establishment of diplomatic relations and
unblocking of transport links.
In a recent interview with the state-run Armenpress news agency Armenian Foreign
Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said that it is vital for the Armenian side that “the
rights and freedoms of Nagorno-Karabakh’s Armenians be clearly guaranteed, and
the status of Nagorno-Karabakh be finally clarified.” “For us, the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not a territorial issue, but a matter of rights,”
he said.
Speaking in parliament on Wednesday, Mirozyan said that the Russian, American
and French co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group had informed Armenia that its
proposals had been passed on to Azerbaijan. He said Baku had not responded to
Yerevan’s proposals yet.
Pashinian today also described as odd criticism heard from the Armenian
opposition that by agreeing to hold negotiations with Azerbaijan Armenia was
accepting territorial integrity as a principle of normalization of relations. He
again said that previous Armenian governments had repeatedly recognized the
principle of territorial integrity in negotiations with Azerbaijan.
Stressing that peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan should start as soon
as possible, Pashinian pointed to the need to speed up the process of border
demarcation and delimitation along with steps to raise the level of border
security and stability.
“We have proposed a mirror withdrawal of troops from the de jure established
Soviet-era borders of Armenia and Azerbaijan. But I want you to know that in
addition to a complete withdrawal, we have also proposed local withdrawals, and
we are now waiting for Azerbaijan’s response,” the Armenian prime minister said.
Armenia ‘Discussing’ With Russia Gas Payments In Rubles
• Sargis Harutyunyan
A natural gas distribution station at the Armenian border (file photo).
Yerevan and Moscow are discussing the issue of payments for the Russian gas
supplied to Armenia in rubles, Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigorian
said during a question-and-answer session in parliament on Wednesday.
The Armenian official did not provide details as he answered a question from a
pro-government lawmaker regarding the issue.
Grigorian said that the matter is part of discussions about the currency for the
distribution of customs duties within the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), a
Russia-led economic grouping of five former Soviet countries, including Armenia.
“I cannot promise that this issue will be solved now, because there are
objective reasons. But today it is at least being discussed in a global sense,
and I think that at some point it will become a much more specific agenda,” the
deputy prime minister said.
For years, especially since joining the EEU in 2015, Armenia has been raising
the issue of conducting trade in energy resources, including natural gas, in
rubles within the EEU space.
Official reports in Armenia regularly say that the matter is part of ongoing
discussions.
Amid Western sanctions imposed on Moscow for invading and waging an aggressive
war against Ukraine, including a ban on transactions in dollars, euros and other
hard currencies, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on March 23 that
Russia will start forcing “unfriendly countries” – including all European Union
states and the United States – to pay for their natural gas supplies in rubles.
The decision came after a dramatic depreciation of the Russian ruble as a result
of the crippling sanctions imposed by the West.
Armenia is not on the list of “unfriendly countries” that Moscow published
earlier in March. But despite being also a member of the Russia-led Collective
Security Treaty Organization, Armenia has mostly maintained neutrality on the
ongoing armed conflict in Ukraine.
Despite official Yerevan’s statements that it seeks trade with Russia in rubles
when it comes to the supply of natural gas and other energy resources, Armenian
experts are skeptical that the Kremlin will actually agree to receive payments
in the Russian currency given the acute demand for hard currency in Russia.
In a recent interview with RFE/RL’s Armenian Service, former governor of
Armenia’s Central Bank Bagrat Asatrian also said that payments for Russian
natural gas in rubles involved technical difficulties as well.
“I don’t believe that Russia will agree to that and start selling energy to us
in rubles. Besides, it also involves difficulties related to the pricing issue.
As you know, there is a notion of international prices for energy resources,
which are estimated in dollars,” Asatrian said.
Annually Armenia imports more than 2 billion cubic meters of natural gas from
Russia. At the border, Russia’s gas giant Gazprom sells it to its Armenian
subsidiary for $165 per 1,000 cubic meters, but Armenian users pay almost twice
as much for the natural gas supplied to their homes.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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