In a Rare Move, Yerevan Criticizes Moscow for Its Actions in Qarabagh

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Aug. 4 – Despite Moscow’s unhappiness with the revolution that brought Nikol Pashinyan to power in Armenia, Yerevan has remained until now unwilling to criticize publicly even those actions of Moscow that it doesn’t like. But now that appears to be changing with Pashinyan raising pointed questions about Russian “peacekeepers” in Qarabagh.

            The Armenian leader says that the failure of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Qarabagh to prevent Azerbaijani forces from advancing in various places along the contact line raises “questions” about the role of the Russian forces there, questions that he says must be addressed (ehorussia.com/new/node/26517).

            Azerbaijani commentators and officials have expressed concerns in the past about what the Russians are doing and especially about what many in Baku see as Moscow’s coziness with the leaders of the former Armenian Artsakh Republic and with the Armenian armed formations in the breakaway region.

            But Armenia has avoided such a step until now lest any complaint send relations between Yerevan and Moscow into a deeper chill and work to the advantage of Azerbaijan and Turkey. Now, however, Russian inaction in the face of Azerbaijani moves and Armenian popular anger about that has forced Pashinyan’s hands.

            The Kremlin and the Russian foreign ministry have reacted sharply (kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/379832/) as have several pro-Kremlin commentators who see this exchange as presaging a new balance of position in the South Caucasus (e.g., fondsk.ru/news/2022/08/25/o-krizisnyh-javlenijah-v-rossijsko-armjanskih-otnoshenijah-57029.html).

            That possibility can’t be excluded, of course, but as of now, this exchange highlights two aspects of the situation that are often neglected. On the one hand, the November 2020 and January 2021 declarations were just that declarations rather than formal and carefully crafted agreements. And on the other, the Russians as a party to the conflict do not qualify as peacekeepers under international law.

            Consequently, such tensions are going to emerge again and again until some final agreement is reached; and if they are needed, some genuine peacekeepers from neutral countries are put in place of the 2,000-plus Russian troops now on Azerbaijani territory in Qarabagh.