Alexander Krylov: There is no point in Russian peacekeepers’ presence in Artsakh without the Armenian population 

Speaking with Alpha News, Russian political scientist Alexander Krylov commented on the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers from Karabakh.

“Initially, according to the trilateral statement, an agreement was reached that the status of Karabakh and the protection of the rights of people would be discussed in the future. These discussions were postponed, and this was a joint agreement between Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Russian option was to stabilize the situation in the region so that interethnic hostility will gradually pass and peoples will be able to live peacefully next to each other, and after that, the issue of the status and protection of the rights of Karabakh Armenians can be resolved on its own, without Azerbaijan laying claim to Karabakh.

However, this agreement was crossed out on October 7, 2022 by agreements in Prague, which were signed through the mediation of Western countries, with Armenia recognizing Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan. That is, the problem of the self-determination of Karabakh Armenians and the issue of ensuring the security and status of Karabakh were removed from the agenda. Our Western rivals did everything to ensure that Armenia left and that the bilateral Russian-Azerbaijani format remained,” Krylov said.

According to the expert, after the Armenian population was forced to flee Karabakh, the presence of Russian peacekeepers has lost all meaning.

“After the Armenian population was forced to flee Karabakh and after Azerbaijan undertook an operation to solve the problem by force, there was no point of Russian peacekeeping troops being there anymore. Of course, it is a tragedy that the Karabakh Armenians were forced to flee their native land, but at least they escaped physical extermination.

We see what is happening in Gaza and in many other parts of the world, where terrorist attacks lead to mass casualties and the deliberate extermination of civilians. Of course, the situation is very sad and tragic, but the fact that the population survived must be recognized as a merit of the Russian peacekeeping troops. And now there is no point in staying there. There were discussions that maybe some of the Karabakh Armenians would return, but monitoring the public sentiments, it is clear that this is all completely unrealistic. They will never agree to live under Azerbaijan’s rule as Azerbaijani citizens,” Krylov concluded.