Artsakh Ombudsman: RPC should have been first to record that people  left their homes under real threat of physical destruction

ArmInfo. I have a negative attitude towards the Russian side's statement about negotiations with  Baku regarding the return of Artsakh people to their homeland. Artsakh Ombudsman Gegham Stepanyan stated during a press conference on February 15.

"If only because I see manipulation in this statement in the context  of the mention that the people of Artsakh voluntarily left the  country, while being there, the Russian peacekeeping contingent (RPC)  should have been the first to record that people have left their  homes under real threat of physical destruction," he emphasized.

After 2020, as history has shown, the presence of the RPC was not  enough to ensure security in Artsakh.  Stepanyan emphasized that  international guarantees are needed.

When asked whether there is information about the involvement of the  Artsakh authorities in discussions between Moscow and Baku, the  Ombudsman noted that he does not have such information.  As a result  of Azerbaijani military aggression in September 2023, about 109  thousand citizens of Artsakh were forcibly transferred to the  Republic of Armenia.

Russian peacekeepers are in Nagorno-Karabakh on the basis of a  ceasefire declaration signed by the leaders of Russia, Armenia and  Azerbaijan in November 2020. The period of their stay in the region  is five years from the date of signing the statement, that is, until  2025.