US Ambassador: The deployment of Russian peacekeepers in  Nagorno-Karabakh was not included in the discussions of the OSCE  Minsk Group

ArmInfo.The deployment of Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh was not included in the discussions of the OSCE Minsk Group. This opinion is shared by  Ambassador Carey Cavanaugh, who in 1999-2001 was the co-chair of the  OSCE Minsk Group on Nagorno-Karabakh from the United States.

In particular, according to the former diplomat, unlike all other  elements of the ceasefire agreement in Nagorno-Karabakh of November  9, 2020, concluded with the mediation of Russia, the deployment of  Russian peacekeepers in the region was not part of the previously  discussed issues in the negotiations, which were mediated by Minsk  Group.

Cavanaugh was the American co-chair of the Group when Azerbaijani  President Heydar Aliyev and Armenian President Robert Kocharian met  in Key West in April 2001. According to many experts, in the  negotiations preceding the meeting in Key West, the parties were  closest to a peace agreement on Nagorno- Karabakh. However, no  agreement was reached.

According to Cavanaugh, one of the factors that undermined then  public trust was the shooting of the Armenian parliament on October  27, 1999. Prime Minister of Armenia Vazgen Sargsyan and Speaker of  the Parliament Karen Demirchyan were also among the eight who died  then.

As Cavanaugh noted, "several key persons who would have played an  important role in the future implementation of the decision [on  Nagorno-Karabakh] were killed."

"That day I was in Armenia with a delegation of the American  co-chairmanship. In the morning, at the Presidential Palace, we met  with the President, Prime Minister, and Foreign Minister. From there  we left for the airport and flew to Ankara, and when we arrived in  Ankara, we learned that the Armenian parliament had been shot, that  the Prime Minister and the Speaker of the Parliament had been killed,  '' the former OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair said in an interview with the  Armenian Service of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty.

According to Cavanaugh, at that time there were serious discussions  between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan.

"As co-chairs of the Minsk Group, representing Russia, France, the  United States, we knew that the leaders of the two countries were  talking about very serious decisions. But a common man in Baku or  Yerevan at that time could only hear that there was no compromise. On  the one hand, ordinary citizens would hear that control over all the  occupied territories would remain. On the other hand, they would have  heard that nothing would be offered that would be higher than broad  autonomy, "he said.

Cavanaugh did not go into details regarding the then discussions,  noting that now is not the best moment for this, given that the  parties may still return to possible compromises at the negotiating  table.

"I would like to think that today [Armenian Prime Minister Nikol]  Pashinyan and [Azerbaijani President Ilham] Aliyev can discuss  possible compromises more effectively. I don't think this is  happening, but the opportunity to bring the parties back to such a  conversation still exists. And it is quite possible that, taking into  account what is spelled out in the ceasefire agreement, they are  ready to negotiate other things as well," the former mediator noted.

Speaking about the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020,  Cavanaugh noted that all elements of this agreement were discussed by  the Minsk Group co-chairs and were part of the dialogue, with the  exception of the deployment of Russian peacekeepers.

"There was a discussion in the Minsk Group about what would be the  best solution if the peacekeepers or observers did not represent  either the neighboring countries or the co-chairing countries. I  think that Russia fully agreed with this, since it was the most  politically advantageous approach to this issue. Why did Russia send  its peacekeepers? I think this was due to the degree of danger of the  situation, with the speed with which the Armenian side was losing the  territories under its control, and the rapid development of events  around Shushi," Cavanaugh  said.