Nagorno-Karabakh peace deal brokered by Moscow prompts anger in Armenia

[muriel_volestrangler]

Source: The Guardian

Russian peacekeepers have departed for Nagorno-Karabakh after Moscow brokered a peace deal that sparked celebrations in Azerbaijan and protests in Armenia, where demonstrators briefly occupied government buildings.

The truce, announced late on Monday night, calls for the deployment of nearly 2,000 Russian peacekeepers to the disputed enclave, where Azerbaijan will receive significant territorial concessions from an Armenian-backed local government.

The ceasefire may end a six-week war in which Azerbaijan launched its largest offensive in a generation to retake Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions under Armenian control. Since fighting began in late September, thousands have been killed and more than 100,000 displaced in the worst fighting since the early 1990s.

News of the deal set off a political shockwave in the Armenian capital. Hundreds of people took to the streets and stormed government buildings soon after Armenia’s prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, announced the “painful” deal early on Tuesday.



Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/10/nagorno-karabakh-armenia-pm-signs-deal-to-end-war-with-azerbaijan-and-russia

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Under its terms, Azerbaijan will hold on to several areas that it has taken during the conflict. Armenia also agreed to withdraw from several other adjacent areas over the next few weeks.

The BBC's Orla Guerin in Baku says that, overall, the deal should be read as a victory for Azerbaijan and a defeat for Armenia.
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At least 2,000 Russian soldiers will eventually be active in the region and they will guard the "Lachin corridor" which links the Karabakh capital, Stepanakert, to Armenia. Ninety armoured personnel carriers will also deploy as part of the renewable five-year mission.



https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-54885906

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. Nagorno-Karabakh peace deal reshapes regional geopolitics

Western powers sidelined as Russia and Turkey use sway on local players to boost influence

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That configuration eschews France and the United States, which along with Russia had formed the OSCE Minsk Group and hosted talks since a key 1994 ceasefire that ended a bloody war between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
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The future for Stepanakert looks dim, said Laurence Broers, the Caucasus programme director at Conciliation Resources, a peace-building group, adding that “maybe the calculation is that it’s going to be such an awful place to live that most of the Armenian population – most of whom have already left – won’t come back”.

The mission is arguably Russia’s greatest intervention into the region since the 2008 Georgia war. Russia had resisted a peacekeeping role for weeks until it became clear that Azerbaijan was threatening to capture the whole of Nagorno-Karabakh.

“The idea was to let the Azeris win but not completely,” said Lukyanov. Under the agreement, Azerbaijan will retain control of the land it has captured during the war and retake territories outside of Nagorno-Karabakh under Armenian control.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/10/nagorno-karabakh-peace-deal-turkey-russia-reshapes-regional-geopolitics

[Xolodno]

2. Its a win for Russia.

There will now be Russian bases and troops in both countries. And the area is now contested, neither side can ever apply for NATO membership. And those bases will pay close attention to Turkey...Edrogan over played his hand.

Armenia may be pissed about losing territory...but they still hold territory that was recognized internationally as being part of Azerbaijan.