What Are Russian Peacekeepers Doing in Nagorno-Karabakh? Zatulin

After the Armenian population's departure from Nagorno-Karabakh, the reasons for the presence of Russian peacekeepers in the region have diminished. This opinion was expressed in an interview with Газета.Ru by Konstantin Zatulin, the First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma's Committee on the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)..

According to him, Azerbaijan has not yet raised the issue of withdrawing troops to ensure that Russia does not perceive it as a defeat or concession. “Today, the presence of peacekeepers in Karabakh is interconnected with the relations between Russia and Azerbaijan. In fact, since there is no Armenian population in Karabakh, a question arises: what are our peacekeepers doing there? I believe that the Azerbaijani leadership has not yet raised the issue of their withdrawal solely to ensure that this is not perceived in Russia as a defeat, as a concession, damage caused to the presence of our military outside the Russian Federation. But in reality, the reasons for our peacekeepers' presence in Karabakh are fewer,” he said.

The deputy believes that the presence of Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh can guarantee that nothing will happen to the homes of the Armenian population. “I see the meaning of our peacekeepers' presence in order to ensure that nothing happens, for example, to the homes left by the Armenian population, to cultural and historical monuments that have a global historical nature. There is some hope that some Armenians will return to Nagorno-Karabakh, however, the conditions officially proposed by Azerbaijan for the return of Armenians are unlikely to facilitate their return. Therefore, the presence of Russian peacekeepers here is a very complicated circumstance. The emigration of the local population from Karabakh has disrupted the reasons for their presence there,” he concluded.