Friday, April 19 2024 18:10

ArmInfo. The withdrawal of the Russian peacekeeping troops stationed in Artsakh for a period of five  years after the tripartite declaration of November 9 gives rise to deep concerns and causes contradictions in the context of regional developments. This is stated in the statement of the "We are" civil initiative.

The statement reads as follows: "In such a way, the positioning of  the guarantor of peace and security ultimately fails and opens a new  door for Azerbaijani crimes. A few days ago, the removal of the  International Committee of the Red Cross and now the peacekeepers  frees Azerbaijan, acting outside of civilized norms, from any  restraint mechanism and allows unfettered actions to eliminate  everything Armenian. It is obvious that with all this, new grounds  are being created for cultural genocide and, in general, the  cancellation of all the rights of Artsakh citizens, including  property and ownership. The civil initiative "We Are" considers that  with such a policy, the Russian Federation contributes to Aliyev's  permissiveness and the behavior of "digesting" Azerbaijani crimes.  The people of Artsakh unconditionally believed and accepted the  Russian mission to protect them, which was defeated by ethnic  cleansing in 2023. And with the decision to leave the territory  early, the importance of discussing such issues with Artsakh society  and state institutions was ignored. At the same time, we consider the  ongoing process as a global challenge and call on all poles of the  world to prevent visible and invisible attempts to put a tombstone on  the Artsakh issue."

The Russian peacekeeping contingent (RPC) was deployed in Artsakh  after a trilateral statement signed on November 9, 2020 between the  leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia. The statement stopped the  war initiated by the Azerbaijani-Turkish tandem against Artsakh. In  accordance with the agreements, 1,960 military personnel with small  arms, 90 armored personnel carriers and 380 units of automobile and  special equipment were sent there. It was planned to deploy  peacekeepers in the region for five years - until 2025.  After last  year's September aggression by Azerbaijan against Artsakh, against  the backdrop of the inaction of the entire international community,  and the mass exodus of Artsakhis, the need for peacekeepers was  completely eliminated.

The Kremlin has already confirmed the fact that the process of  withdrawing RPC forces from occupied Artsakh has begun. And in Baku  they reported that this decision was adopted at the level of the  leaders of Russia and Azerbaijan. The Russian military is withdrawing  from the territory of Azerbaijan, according to the media, through  Dagestan.