Losing the Opportunity for a Ceasefire is Extremely Dangerous: Zohrab Mnatsakanyan's Interview with RBC

The opportunity provided by the ceasefire agreement must not be missed under any circumstances, stated Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan in an interview with the Russian television channel RBC.

“The situation is very volatile. Since the morning of October 10, large-scale military operations have resumed, primarily towards the south. An attempt has been made by a diversion-reconnaissance group of about 200 people to penetrate the town of Hadrut in Nagorno-Karabakh. Significant forces have been deployed to try to achieve something. Throughout this time, strikes on cities, and especially on the capital Stepanakert, have not stopped. Bombardments continued until Saturday morning and persisted all Sunday, with strikes also carried out on Monday throughout the day,” said Mnatsakanyan.

According to him, the first step in the created situation is the cessation of fire for humanitarian purposes, and in this context, the minister emphasized the importance of reaching an agreement on a ceasefire in Moscow thanks to the joint efforts with the co-chairmen of the Minsk Group led by Russia and the direct involvement of Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Losing that is extremely dangerous. Consultations are being held with both the International Red Cross and the co-chairmen of the Minsk Group, as well as with the personal representative of the OSCE president. It is necessary to reinforce the ceasefire regime and prevent the resumption of military operations. Yes, the establishment of verification mechanisms for maintaining the ceasefire within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group is currently being discussed. In this context, Russia plays a very useful role. Both Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh have advocated for the implementation of verification mechanisms, but for years we have faced the problem that Azerbaijan opposes the establishment of any mechanisms to reinforce the ceasefire. Negotiations were on very complex and sensitive issues. There were many provisions related to the volume of questions that should be addressed and the order in which steps should be taken. It took 11 hours to reach an agreement on these 4 points reflected in the statement. And here, I must tell you, Sergey Lavrov played a very important role. I think it is appropriate at this moment to refrain from commenting on the details. What is important to me now is achieving a result. There are questions on which we absolutely disagree with the Azerbaijani side, but the main thing is that we have approached this issue with a great sense of responsibility, with the responsibility we have before our peoples,” said the Armenian Foreign Minister.

Mnatsakanyan emphasized that it is not appropriate to talk about which specific territories are under the control of which side. “There has been an advancement of the positions of the defense forces of Nagorno-Karabakh, and steps are being taken to prevent any success by the adversary; the forces of the defense army are pushing back the adversary, positioning is ongoing. The adversary has deployed all its might over the past two weeks, including aviation, heavy artillery, tanks, infantry, drones, with the direct and unconditional support of Turkey, which supplies Azerbaijan with military equipment, F-16 fighters, commands, and provides air guidance. Additionally, the placement of militants-terrorists from Syria and Libya in Azerbaijan changes the context of the conflict. Over the past two weeks, Artsakh has shown what it means to defend oneself and what it means to protect one's life, home, land, family, and historical homeland,” he highlighted.

The Armenian Foreign Minister has highly valued the role of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the establishment of the humanitarian ceasefire during the negotiations held in Moscow.