Russia said on Saturday it was ready to provide “necessary” assistance to Armenia, which is in conflict with Azerbaijan in the secessionist region of Nagorno-Karabakh, if the fighting spreads to Armenian territory.
Moscow’s announcement, which renewed its call for a ceasefire, came after Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian earlier today called on President Vladimir Putin to start “urgent” consultations on the issue. help Russia could provide to keep her country safe.
The Armenian request, which raises fears of an escalation in the conflict, came after the failure of new talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan aimed at establishing a ceasefire.
Russia has a military base in Gumri, Armenia’s second largest city. It is also linked to Yerevan by a collective security treaty, but has claimed in the past that it does not extend to the breakaway region of Nagorno Karabakh.
“Russia will provide Yerevan with all the necessary assistance if the clashes take place directly on the territory of Armenia,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
At the same time, the spokesperson for Russian diplomacy, Maria Zakharova, told Russian television that “the concrete formats” of an audience would be discussed.
In a letter to Vladimir Putin, Mr. Pachinian said on Saturday morning that the fighting was approaching the Armenian borders and again accused Turkey of supporting Azerbaijan.
Citing the good relations between the two countries and the treaty of friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance between the two countries since 1997, he called on Moscow for help.
“The Armenian Prime Minister has asked the Russian President to start urgent consultations with the aim of determining the nature and the amount of the assistance which the Russian Federation can give to Armenia to ensure its security,” diplomacy said Armenian.
Risky intervention
Carey Cavanaugh, a former US ambassador, believes that extensive military intervention in the conflict is not in Moscow’s interests.
“It is impossible to measure the risks, but an intervention of Russian or Turkish troops at this stage would lead to a significant escalation in the conflict,” he told AFP.
According to him, the Russian army “could bring troops out of their garrison at Gumri to ensure the security of the Armenian border”, or bring assistance to refugees fleeing the fighting.
Contacted by AFP, Hikmet Hajiyev, diplomatic adviser to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev, declined to comment.
Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanian and his Azerbaijani counterpart Djeyhoun Baïramov met in Geneva on Friday to try unsuccessfully to find a solution to the crisis.
Friday evening, the French, Russian and American mediators, gathered within the “Minsk group”, indicated that the belligerents had agreed on a certain number of measures, in particular the commitment “not to deliberately target the civilian populations or non-military targets ”.
However, the Nagorno-Karabakh “Defense Ministry” on Saturday accused Azerbaijan of bombing the capital of this secessionist region, Stepanakert, and the nearby strategic city of Shusha.
The ministry reported “wounded among civilians in Choucha”. For its part, Baku has rejected the accusations of bombing Stepanakert.
Since September 27, the Azerbaijani forces and those of Nagorno Karabakh supported by Yerevan have clashed again. So far, three attempts at a humanitarian truce have been shattered.
According to partial reports, these clashes, the worst since a war in the early 1990s, have left more than 1,250 dead. President Putin, whose country acts as arbiter in the region, told him last week of a death toll approaching 5,000.
Nagorno Karabakh seceded from Azerbaijan in the 1990s after a war that left 30,000 dead and hundreds of thousands displaced.