Did Vladimir Putin give green light for onslaught?
Nikol Pashinyan, the Armenian Prime Minister, in June said his country did not support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Azerbaijan’s attack on the Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh comes amid a breakdown in relations between Armenia and Russia, which brokered a ceasefire to end a war in the region in 2020.
Nikol Pashinyan, the Armenian Prime Minister, in June said his country did not support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He also invited American troops to hold joint training exercises in Armenia this month. His wife, Anna Hakobyan, made an official visit to Kyiv as Armenia sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine for the first time.
Last year, Nancy Pelosi, at the time the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, became the highest-ranking American official to make a state visit to Armenia since it gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Moscow accused Armenia of “unfriendly steps” and Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said the arrival of 85 American soldiers “will not be any good for anyone, including Armenia”.
Armenia has accused the Kremlin of being too distracted by its war in Ukraine to ensure that the 2000 Russian peacekeepers it deployed to the region in 2020 are able to ensure security on the Lachin corridor, the only road that links Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia. A blockade of the road by Azerbaijani civilians, with support from Baku, has led to critical shortages of food and water in the enclave in recent months. Some analysts say the Kremlin is likely to have indicated to Azerbaijan that it would have no objections to a renewed attack on the region.
Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, but its 150,000 inhabitants are predominantly ethnic Armenians. In July, Moscow said for the first time that the enclave, known as Artsakh by Armenians, should submit to rule from Baku, the Azerbaijani capital.
The Times
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