WASHINGTON, DC — US National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien suggests deploying Scandinavian peacekeepers in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone.
According to him, any armed peacekeeping force in the conflict zone must not include representatives of the co-chairing countries of the Minsk Group and neighboring countries.
“Any type of interference or peacekeeping role of Turkey is unacceptable for the United States and Armenia,” O’Brien said during a meeting with representatives of the Armenian community of California.
“We believe both countries must accept the idea of Scandinavian peacekeepers, and we are working with the Scandinavian governments to form peacekeeping forces that may be deployed in the region to maintain the ceasefire regime,” O’Brien said.
On Thursday, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan discussed ways of implementing ceasefire agreements in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone in a telephone conversation with O’Brien. Yerevan said it was initiated by the American side.
According to the Armenian prime minister’s press office, during the conversation Pashinyan drew O’Brien’s attention to “the fact that in breach of all norms accepted in international relations and ignoring the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) Minsk Group Co-Chairs’ efforts, Azerbaijan violated ceasefire agreements three times in a row, including the agreement that was reached most recently in the U.S. capital.”
“Pashinyan stressed that Turkey backs Azerbaijan in this matter, and it is impossible to enforce the truce without specifying which side has broken the ceasefire and who is interested in continuing the hostilities,” the statement released by the Armenian prime minister’s office said.
“The American side gave assurances that they will continue their mediation efforts aimed at achieving a ceasefire and ruling out the involvement of third parties in the conflict,” it added.
