Vitaly Milonov on the Artsakh blockade: They are simply committing a new genocide

In an interview with Alpha News, Deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Vitaly Milonov spoke about the humanitarian catastrophe in Artsakh and expressed his skeptical opinion about the aid provided to Artsakh on the part of the international community.

Milonov, who visited Artsakh during and after the 2020 war, shared his impressions of the visit:

“Artsakh is a wonderful place. I really liked its culture, it is a bit different from the main Armenian culture. I remember the ancient monasteries and churches. Well, people are slightly different there. What is interesting is that the second state language in Artsakh is Russian. For me, as a Russian person, it was very pleasant.”

He notes that he is following the events taking place in Artsakh, how the Armenians of Artsakh are fighting against the blockade. “Of course, all normal people follow this,” he said.

“People who are fine with this are those who demonstrate hatred towards the people of Artsakh. These are people who prefer seeing hungry children. But what I see is that they are hungry, but not broken. And these people (Azerbaijan) do not let humanitarian convoys through. They seem to declare that this is their territory. The communists gave them this territory, the Bolsheviks gave it to them. They always gave something to someone – Donbass to Ukraine, Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan.

If they say that this is their territory, then why are they abusing the people who live there?! Or do they want to say that they need these territories without people, people disturb them? No ruler will ever allow a humanitarian catastrophe to happen in the territory that he considers his own. And here I see the electoral principle due to the fact that the people historically living on the territory of Artsakh are Armenians. They are simply committing a new genocide, I believe,” the Russian deputy said.

He also commented on why the tripartite statement of November 9, 2020 is not being implemented now:

“I rely on the trilpartite agreements signed by Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia regarding this difficult issue. I see that these agreements are not being followed. The Azerbaijani side and its Russian lobby (we in Russia, unfortunately, have politicians who act not in the interests of Russia, but in the interests of another country) say that this agreement is outdated and needs to be rewritten.

There is an agreement, why is it not implemented? It means that these people will not fulfill the next agreement either. Thus, we can say that the people who have taken on an international obligation and do not fulfill it —they are insincere and unreliable as a partner.

According to Milonov, Baku is now trying to take advantage of the fact that Russia is busy with the conflict in Ukraine, as well as benefit from support of Turkiye and the UK.

“Our main resources are concentrated in Ukraine, and people who decided to create a new problem from the other side took advantage of this. Azerbaijan would not be able to do it on its own. Its subjectivity is blurred by international agreements with other countries such as Turkiye, Great Britain, the United States. And Azerbaijan’s actions depend on goals and objectives that the Turkish-British alliance is now formulating.

To confirm this, I want to say that based on the level of warm, serious and trusting relations that have developed between Turkey, a NATO member, Great Britain and Azerbaijan, in case of a signal about the deblockade of Artsakh, Azerbaijan would fulfill this instruction. It would lift the blockade from the civilian population of Artsakh. Of course, knowing that there are almost no military in Artsakh. There are women, children, the elderly, just unarmed people.

This is some kind of mockery. For me, as for a hereditary resident of Leningrad, such methods of warfare smell fishy. This is not a war of men (on the part of Azerbaijan). This is a war with the elderly, like in Middle Ages, with cities being starved out,” Milonov concluded.