U.S. State Department expresses concern over Russian presence in  Nagorno-Karabakh

ArmInfo.The U.S. State Department expressed concern about the Russian presence in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Thus, on October 3, during a briefing, Principal Deputy Spokesperson  for the U.S. Department of State Vedant Patel, when asked to comment  on the reasonability of the presence of Russian peacekeepers in  Nagorno- Karabakh, against the backdrop of the exodus of the entire  Armenian population, noted that he did not want to speculate on this  topic.

"Of course, that that kind of presence continues to be concerning.  But the United States is going to continue to remain focused on  engaging with Azerbaijani and Armenian leadership on this, and doing  whatever we can to continue to have a dignified and durable peace on  this," he said, in response to the question whether it could be that  the real goal of the Russian presence in the region is  for not  maintain the peace in Karabakh but to keep the piece of Karabakh?"

When asked whether "the United States will defend Armenia from  potential Russian aggression," Patel noted that this is a rather  hypothetical statement and he would not want to go into details.

" That is a - is quite the hypothetical, Alex, that I don't want to  get into. What I will say, though, is that the United States is going  to continue to play a role in engaging with Azerbaijani and Armenian  leadership at the highest levels to pursue a dignified and durable  peace.  And you've also seen us, over the course of this past week  and beyond, reiterate our call for a longer-term, independent,  international monitoring mission in Nagorno-Karabakh to provide  transparency and reassurances that the rights and securities of  ethnic Armenians will be protected, particularly for those who may  wish to return, and for the protection of cultural heritage sites,  which all of course is in line with Azerbaijan's public statements  and their international obligations as well," the US State Department  representative added.

Commenting on the visit of the UN team to Karabakh, where they "did  not see any damage to civilian infrastructure such as hospitals,  schools and housing, as well as cultural and religious sites,"Patel  noted: "So we certainly appreciate that - those comments from the UN  spokesperson. 

But that does not change the United States' point of view on this. As  I just said to Alex, we continue to believe, even in the light of the  UN visit, that there is a strong desire and a need for a longer-term,  independent international monitoring mission in Nagorno-Karabakh. We  think that that will provide transparency; we think that it will  provide the appropriate reassurances for the various rights and  securities that we continue to be deeply concerned about," he  concluded.