Armenian prime minister says events in Nagorno-Karabakh ‘raise serious questions’ about Russian peacekeepers’ motives
In an address to the nation on Sunday, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan vowed that Armenia will take in all refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh who fear ethnic cleansing in the disputed region.
Criticizing Azerbaijan and Russia alike, Pashinyan said that all of Baku’s attacks against Armenia in recent years demonstrate that the “external security systems” that Yerevan is a part of are “ineffective from the perspective of its state interests and security.” According to him, the events in Nagorno-Karabakh “raise serious questions about the goals and motives of the Russian peacekeeping contingent” deployed there.
“Responsibility for this course of events lies fully with Azerbaijan, who pursued a policy of ethnic cleansing, and with the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh,” the prime minister continued. “Of course, the Armenian government is working with our international partners to create international mechanisms to ensure the rights and security of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians. But if these efforts don’t yield concrete results, the government will, with the greatest care, welcome our sisters and brothers from Nagorno-Karabakh to the Republic of Armenia.”
At the same time, he added, accepting refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh won’t solve Armenia’s underlying problems. “An analysis of events shows that our security systems and the allies we’ve depended on for many years have set out to put our vulnerability on display and to argue against the feasibility of the Armenian people having an independent state,” Pashinyan said. “The underlying meaning of the things that have happened to us in recent years and even today is this: Will Armenia be a sovereign, free, democratic state or a frightened peripheral province?
