MOSCOW, December 23. /TASS/. The idea of replacing Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh with UN or OSCE missions raises questions, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference following talks with his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov on Friday.
"If someone thinks that the United Nations or the OSCE [Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe], some Minsk fact-finding group, should replace Russian peacekeeper troops, there are at least a couple of questions. First, doing so requires getting consent from the parties, primarily Azerbaijan and Armenia. If there is such interest and it is serious, then a proposal should first be sent to those who made a decision to deploy Russian peacekeepers and spoke out in favor of coming to the negotiating table and thinking about another option," he said in response to a question.
Lavrov noted that Russian peacekeepers were accurately performing their mission outlined in a statement dated November 9, 2020. "I would like to point out that the situation is difficult, with considerable difficulties being created for our troops, particularly through violations of the rules established by trilateral agreements and the obligations stemming from those agreements. In addition, sometimes our troops face unfounded accusations," he added.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan earlier said that Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh were obliged to control the Lachin Corridor based on the November 9, 2020, trilateral agreement mad by the leaders of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan, but they were actually failing to fulfill their obligations.