Zakharova responds to Armenian Security Council accusations of Russia's inaction in Karabakh

The essence of the conflicting statements

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova responded to statements by Armen Grigoryan... no — by Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Alen Simonyan, who claimed that during the hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh in the autumn of 2020 he allegedly begged Russian officials to intervene and end the war, but saw no effective steps from Moscow while Armenian servicemen were dying. Zakharova called these accusations a distortion of the truth, noting that Simonyan made his remarks on the eve of a planned visit to Moscow. This was reported by Life.ru, and the Russian Foreign Ministry website also published her comment.

The Russian side's arguments

“We do not know at whose feet he was falling then, or perhaps he is still doing so to this day,” Zakharova said in a comment to RIA Novosti. She recalled the trilateral statement signed by Vladimir Putin, Ilham Aliyev and Nikol Pashinyan on the night of November 9–10, 2020: the document provided for a complete ceasefire, after which a Russian peacekeeping contingent was deployed in the region. According to the diplomat, the peacekeepers ensured the security of the population, delivered humanitarian aid and carried out demining, risking their own lives, and these measures were preceded by numerous high-level negotiations. “To speak of some 'effective steps' allegedly not taken by Russia while at the same time belittling the efforts and sacrifices of Russian peacekeepers means distorting the truth”, she emphasized.

The 2021–2022 agreements and Prague

Zakharova also pointed out that the 2021–2022 agreements laid the foundation for the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan: they provided for the preparation of a peace treaty, the opening of transport links, border delimitation and the resolution of humanitarian issues. According to her, neither side has announced its withdrawal from these agreements. She separately recalled the meeting in Prague in October 2022, at which Pashinyan recognized the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, including Nagorno-Karabakh. Earlier, as Life.ru wrote, Zakharova called on Pashinyan to stop shifting responsibility for the deterioration of relations with Russia onto Moscow and the CSTO, reminding that in 2022 the organization prepared a package of assistance for Armenia with political-diplomatic measures and military-technical support, but the Armenian prime minister refused to sign the relevant document. The Russian Foreign Ministry had also previously called Simonyan's statements about Russian citizens provocative, warning of negative consequences of such rhetoric for bilateral relations.