During the recent Azerbaijani aggression the Russian peacekeeping contingent took up a merely observer position, Nagorno-Karabakh President Samvel Shahramanyan said on 28 October 28 in an interview with Artsakh Public Television.
He said that already on the morning of 19 September, Azerbaijani military personnel warned Russian peacekeepers to hide from the planned artillery strike. Already half an hour after Shahramanyan left the office of the commander of the Russian peacekeeping contingent, intense shelling began in all regions of Artsakh.
“After the outbreak of hostilities, I realized that we are alone against Azerbaijani aggression. The Russian side, one might say, assumed the role of observers, and we had to resolve our issues independently. The Defense Army, security forces and the entire population together began to take retaliatory actions. It was thanks to these actions that it was possible to start negotiations with Azerbaijan, which lasted 12 hours,” Shahramanyan said.
According to him, as a result of the negotiations, a document was adopted in which a number of points raised many questions. In particular, this concerns the requirement for the withdrawal of the remaining units of the Armenian Armed Forces from Artsakh and the handover of heavy military equipment for further disposal.”
Commenting on the demand for the withdrawal of Armenian forces from Nagorno-Karabakh, Shahrvsvnyan noted: “It is clear that this formulation was unacceptable for us, but this point was at Azerbaijan’s instance, and we, understanding that we do not sign this document, do not take on any legal responsibility and informed them verbally and in writing that there is no Armenian Armed Forces in Artsakh.”
“As for the second point, I know that there are many questions as to why the weapons were handed over and left in Artsakh? We lost the opportunity to deliver weapons to Armenia after the Azerbaijani side established a checkpoint, and it was clear that we would not be able to leave Artsakh with heavy equipment. According to the statement, we handed over the equipment to the Russian side for further disposal. According to the agreement, it should be destroyed,” Shahramanyan said.
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