Please Make Every Possible Effort: Araik Harutyunyan's Letter to Vladimir Putin

The President of the Artsakh Republic, Araik Harutyunyan, made a post on his Facebook page addressing the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin.

"To the President of the Russian Federation, Mr. Vladimir Putin,

Esteemed Vladimir Vladimirovich,

The relationship between Artsakh and Russia has a history of centuries. Russia is perceived in the historical memory of the people of Artsakh as a fraternal nation that has always extended a hand to this segment of the Armenian population in all difficult situations.

The connections between Artsakh and Russia were most direct during the flourishing period of the Artsakh principalities and noble houses, as evidenced by numerous factual testimonies. For over a century (during the 19th century and the early 20th century), Karabakh was part of Tsarist Russia. This historical period was marked by long-term peace, repatriation, and economic development for Karabakh. Cultural life also prospered. Notably, from the second half of the 19th century, the administrative and political center of Artsakh, Shusha, became one of the important spiritual, cultural, and economic centers of the South Caucasus.

During the same historical period, a constellation of prominent figures from the Armenian population of Artsakh played a major role in the political and military life of the Russian Empire, including Valerian Madatov, Hovhannes Lazarev, Lazar Serebryakov, Mikhail Loris-Melikov, Vasily Bezbakhov, among others.

These relations continued throughout the Soviet era. During the Great Patriotic War, around 90,000 Armenian sons from the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region and historical Artsakh participated in the war, with half sacrificing their lives for the defense of the homeland. In terms of the number of Soviet heroes and knights of the Order of Glory per capita, Artsakh ranked among the leaders in the USSR.

Five Armenian marshals from the USSR had roots in Artsakh: Hovhannes Baghramyan, Ivan Isakova, Hamazasp Babajanyan, Armenak Khmperyants (Sergey Khudyakov), and Sergey Aganov. More than 30 generals and thousands of officers distinguished themselves with their commanding talent. Notable benefactors such as Anastas and Artem Mikoyan, Ivan Tevosyan, Andranik Yosifyan, Nikolay Yenikolopov, Mikhail Tariverdiyev also hailed from Artsakh.

The close ties between Artsakh and Russia continue to this day. A significant portion of the approximately 3 million Armenians living in Russia are from Artsakh, including many who were forcibly displaced from Artsakh due to Azerbaijani genocidal policies and ethnic cleansing in the late 1980s and 1990s.

I would like to emphasize that in all phases of the resolution of the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict, the Russian Federation has consistently exercised the principle of non-use of force or threat of force enshrined in international law and promoted peaceful resolutions to conflicts. In the process of resolving the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict, the RF has acted both within the framework of the co-chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group and with an independent role.

The Republic of Artsakh highly values Russia's mediation efforts, active involvement, and decisive mission in all phases of conflict resolution, especially in facilitating the 1994 trilateral agreement on ceasefire.

The RF played a crucial role even during the escalation of the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict; on April 5, 2016, an agreement was reached in Moscow with Russia's mediation to cease military actions and restore the ceasefire in accordance with the 1994 ceasefire agreement.

We greatly appreciate the diplomatic efforts of the RF and personally your endeavors aimed at halting the aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh and stopping the large-scale war.

I would also like to inform you that your objective assessments of the current situation expressed during your speech at the