Armenian FM calls on UNSC to send peacekeepers to Karabakh with UN mandate

YEREVAN. Sept 22 (Interfax) - Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan has called on the United Nations Security Council to send a peacekeeping mission with a UN mandate to Nagorno-Karabakh.

"I appeal to the Security Council to create a possibility for a United Nations-mandated peacekeeping force to keep stability and security in Nagorno-Karabakh; immediately deploy an interagency mission by the UN to Nagorno-Karabakh with the aim to monitor and assess human rights, the humanitarian and security situation," Mirzoyan said at the UN Security Council's emergency meeting on Nagorno-Karabakh.

A Russian peacekeeping mission has been present in Nagorno-Karabakh since the end of 2020.

Mirzoyan also emphasized the need to "ensure unimpeded access of the UN agencies and other international organizations to Nagorno-Karabakh in line with the humanitarian principles."

Furthermore, it is necessary to "ensure full cooperation of the parties in good faith with the International Committee of the Red Cross to address the consequences of the military actions, ensure the return of persons displaced in the course of the recent aggression [...] as well as the 2020 war, and ensure the immediate restoration of vital supplies," he said.

Prior to the results of the negotiations that began between representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan in the Azerbaijani city of Yevlakh on Thursday, it is necessary to "demand the exit of any Azerbaijani military and law-enforcement bodies from all civilian settlements in Nagorno-Karabakh to exclude panic and provocations," he said.

It is also necessary to "exclude punitive action against Nagorno-Karabakh NK political and military representatives and personnel," Mirzoyan said.

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, for his part, said that Baku's actions in Karabakh were in compliance with the UN Charter.

The appeal by Armenia to the UN Security Council to discuss the matter "is a violation of UN Charter, demands on respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of states and non-interference in their internal affairs," Bayramov said.

The Azerbaijani Armed Forces used their weapons to take exclusively military infrastructure out of operation, he said.

Baku remains determined to guarantee the rights and freedoms of Karabakh Armenians in line with Azerbaijan's constitution and international human rights mechanisms, the minister said.

Bayramov also reaffirmed Azerbaijan's readiness to continue peace talks with Armenia.