Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Tuesday he had complained to President Vladimir Putin about “problems” with Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh, warning of an escalation in the restive Caucasus region.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought two wars over control of the Armenian-majority region and the latest conflict in 2020 ended with the deployment of Moscow’s forces.
Pashinyan’s comments are the latest sign that Armenia, which relies on Russia as a security guarantor, is growing frustrated with the Kremlin’s focus on Ukraine and its confrontation with the West.
“In a telephone conversation with Putin yesterday, I spoke about the possibility of escalation in Nagorno-Karabakh and said that there are problems in the zone where Russian peacekeepers are responsible,” Pashinyan said during a press conference.
“Azerbaijan’s rhetoric is becoming more and more aggressive every day,” he said, arguing against the blockade of the Lachin corridor, which is Karabakh’s only border with Armenia.
Since mid-December, an independent group of Azerbaijani environmental activists has banned traffic on the Lachin corridor to protest what they say is illegal mining.
Pashinyan on Tuesday described the disruption of the route as “preparation for the ethnic cleansing of Armenians.”
Lost influence
Yerevan claims the blockade is causing a humanitarian crisis and aims to drive Armenians from Karabakh, which Baku denies.
Armenia, which hosts a permanent Russian military base on its territory, is a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) which includes several pro-Moscow former Soviet republics – but not Azerbaijan.
Yerevan last week refused to assume its top position in the security bloc – partly out of frustration over the failure of peacekeepers to stop the Karabakh blockade.
“It’s not that Armenia leaves the CSTO, the CSTO leaves Armenia, which is a big concern for us, Pashinyan said.
Yerevan’s distance from the bloc signals Russia’s declining traditional influence.
At least three Armenians were killed in the latest border clashes in early March.
“I want to emphasize that this happened in the zone of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping forces. This is worrying,” Pashinyan said on Tuesday.
Progress, problems, red lines
Pashinyan also said that Armenia recently received Baku’s response to the proposals for a comprehensive peace agreement, which Yerevan submitted in mid-February.
He noted some progress in the peace process, but said “fundamental problems” remain because “Azerbaijan is trying to enforce its territorial claims, which is a red line to Armenia.”
Yerevan accuses Baku’s forces of seizing – after the 2020 war – about 150 square kilometers in Armenia, along the country’s border.
On February 20, the European Union deployed an expanded monitoring mission to Armenia’s volatile border region as Western involvement grows in what the Kremlin sees as a geopolitical backwater.
When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, ethnic Armenian separatists in Karabakh broke away from Azerbaijan. The conflict claimed around 30,000 lives.
More violence in 2020 left more than 6,500 people dead and ended with a Russian ceasefire.
Under the deal, Armenia gave up territory it had controlled for decades and Russia sent a peacekeeping contingent to monitor a fragile ceasefire.