Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova gave a sharp response to Armenian Security Council Secretary Alen Simonyan’s remarks that Russia remained inactive during the 2020 Karabakh war.
Globalinfo.az reports that Zakharova, commenting on Simonyan’s remarks made on November 7, recalled the steps Russia took during the 44-day war.
Zakharova quoted the Armenian official as saying: “I fell at the Russians’ feet and said that we are your brothers, your allies, stop this war. At that time Russia took no effective steps, even though our boys were dying in Nagorno-Karabakh.”
“We do not know whose feet he fell at then. Perhaps he continues to do so now. Yet it was Russia that put an end to the bloodshed in the region,” Zakharova said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman recalled that in the night from November 9 to 10, 2020, a trilateral statement signed by the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia declared a complete ceasefire in the Karabakh conflict zone and an end to all military operations.
According to her, as a result of this agreement a Russian peacekeeping contingent was deployed in the region. Zakharova stressed that the peacekeepers take part in ensuring the safety of civilians, providing humanitarian aid and demining.
Zakharova also touched upon the trilateral agreements reached between Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia in 2021–2022. She said those agreements provided for the normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, the drafting of a peace treaty, the opening of transport links, border delimitation and the resolution of humanitarian issues.
Zakharova also recalled that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as Azerbaijani territory at a summit in Prague on October 6, 2022.
“To talk about Russia not taking effective steps while belittling the efforts and sacrifices of Russian peacekeepers is to distort the truth,” she stressed.
Aliyar Khalil
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