Wednesday, October 4 2023 11:12

ArmInfo.Top officials from the United States and the EU met with their Russian counterparts for  undisclosed emergency talks in Turkey designed to resolve the standoff over Nagorno-Karabakh, just days before Azerbaijan launched a military offensive last month to seize the breakaway territory from ethnic Armenian control, POLITICO reports.

According to the source, the off-diary meeting marks a rare - if  ultimately unsuccessful - contact between Moscow and the West on a  major security concern, after Russian President Vladimir Putin's  invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 upended regular diplomacy.

A senior diplomat with knowledge of the discussions told POLITICO the  meeting took place on September 17 in Istanbul as part of efforts to  pressure Azerbaijan to end its nine- month blockade of the enclave  and allow in humanitarian aid convoys from Armenia.  According to the  envoy, the meeting focused on "how to get the bloody trucks moving"  and ensure supplies of food and fuel could reach its estimated  100,000 residents.  The U.S. was represented by Louis Bono,  Washington's senior adviser for Caucasus negotiations, while the EU  dispatched Toivo Klaar, its representative for the region.  Russia,  meanwhile, sent Igor Khovaev, who serves as Putin's special envoy on  relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Such high-level diplomatic interaction is rare. In March, U.S.  Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey  Lavrov came face to face on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in India  - but Moscow insisted the exchange happened "on the move" and no  negotiations were held.

In a statement provided to POLITICO, an EU official said "we believe  it is important to maintain channels of communications with relevant  interlocutors to avoid misunderstandings." The official also observed  Klaar had sought to keep lines open on numerous fronts over the "past  years," including in talks with Khovaev and Russian Deputy Foreign  Minister Mikhail Galuzin.  A spokesperson for the U.S. State  Department declined to comment on the meeting, saying only that "we  do not comment on private diplomatic discussions." However, a U.S.  official familiar with the matter who was granted anonymity to  discuss sensitive diplomatic matters explained the discussions came  out of an understanding that the Kremlin still holds sway in the  region. "We need to be able to work with the Russians on this because  they do have influence over the parties, especially as we're at a  precarious moment right now," the American official said.

On September 19, Azerbaijan, under the pretext of an "anti-terrorist  operation," undertook another act of aggression against Artsakh. As a  result of enemy aggression, hundreds of Artsakh residents were  injured, more than 200 deaths were reported, including civilians, and  more than 10,000 were evacuated.  On September 20, Artsakh fell.  Azerbaijan began the forcible subjugation of the NKR.  On September  20, late in the evening it became known that Azerbaijan had  deliberately shot at the car of the Russian peacekeeping contingent,  killing 5 people, including the deputy commander of the RPC. Today,  there were reports that one soldier was killed and another was  wounded as a result of shooting at another RPC vehicle.  On September  21, a meeting between representatives of Baku and Stepanakert was  held in Yevlakh.  Azerbaijan demanded the disarmament of the Artsakh  Defense Army, the surrender of all military personnel and the  abolition of all government bodies.  On September 22, the process of  abolishing the Artsakh Defense Army began. There are reports that the  enemy side exterminated the population of the villages captured on  September 19-20. During search operations from September 21 to 24,  the NKR Ministry of Internal Affairs discovered the bodies of 105  Artsakh residents, including brutally murdered children and elderly  people.  On October 1, the last car with Artsakh people left the  homeland. Thus, over the past week, 100.514 people were forcibly  expelled from their land.  On September 25 it also became known that  Artsakh was connected to the energy system of Azerbaijan.  Protests  demanding the resignation of the RA Prime Minister continue in  Yerevan and regions.  We add that as a result of the explosion that  took place in the fuel depot near Stepanakert on September 25,  according to preliminary data, more than 290 people were injured, 170  more died, there are still missing people.  The EU stated that it  would allocate an additional 5 million euros to assist internally  displaced people from Artsakh.  Earlier, USAID Administrator Samantha  Power, who is on a visit to Armenia, said that "the United States  will provide Armenia with support in the amount of $11.5 million for  the humanitarian needs of people displaced from Nagorno- Karabakh."  In addition, as ArmInfo previously reported with reference to the  Swedish Ambassador to Armenia, Sweden, through the Swedish  International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), allocated 15  million Swedish kronor to the International Committee of the Red  Cross to meet the humanitarian needs of the population of Nagorno-  Karabakh.  France promised to allocate another 7 million euros.   Germany announced an increase in subsidies to the ICRC from 2 to 5  million euros, to direct them to humanitarian needs of the Armenians  of Nagorno- Karabakh.  Another 1 million euros will be provided by  Spain, $2.5 million by Canada, and 1.3 million pounds sterling by the  UK, Italy allocated 4 million euros through the ICRC. A number of  other countries have also announced their intention to send  humanitarian aid to the expelled people of Artsakh.