Another provocative stunt in the “zone of irresponsibility” of the Russian peacekeeping forces. Supporters of Ruben Vardanyan, the Kremlin’s puppet on the Karabakh field, valiantly blocked the Aghdam-Khankendi road, along which, according to persistent rumors, humanitarian aid was to be delivered.
This is certainly a case when one would want to say something like “the masks are off”. If Vardanyan and the separatist leadership were interested in humanitarian supplies, they certainly would not have blocked the Aghdam-Khankendi road after the rumors of humanitarian supplies. However, the cries of “humanitarian disaster” and “blockade” are used only as PR to justify the main goal: to remove the Azerbaijani checkpoint “Lachin” on the Gorus-Khankendi road and restore the “open house” mode. And it is all the more clear that it is not the Khankendi players who are behind these games: Vardanyan acted and is acting solely at the behest of the Kremlin. And what is at stake is not at all the “business” of the Russian peacekeepers in transporting commercial cargoes, but something more serious—the opportunity to useKarabakh for armed provocations and pressure on Azerbaijan.
But it seems that this “PR strategy” is not getting the understanding of the world leaders. And now we have Vardanyan lashing out on social media at the European Council President Charles Michel, who voiced his support for transit via the Aghdam road: “By endorsing Azerbaijan’s proposal to utilize the road through Aghdam, CharlesMichel lends legitimacy to the blockade of ‘Artsakh’ (the quotation marks are editorial—Minval). Consequently, rather than resolving the existing problems, the mediators may inadvertently contribute to the emergence of new ones.” And anyway, according to Vardanyan, “everyone who makes statements about the use of this road serves the interests of Azerbaijan. If they really cared about the fate of Artsakh Armenians, they would have demanded to open a humanitarian air corridor instead of this road and impose sanctions against Azerbaijan yesterday”.
But the problem is that by blocking the Aghdam road at the instigation of the Kremlin, the separatists have convincingly demonstrated to all unbiased observers that they are not interested in humanitarian aid in the slightest, that it is the separatist leadership that is holding hostage the small civilian population of the area of temporary deployment of the Russian peacekeeping forces, and that they want to regain full “freedom of smuggling” on the Gorus-Lachin-Khankendi road.
That is not going to happen. But Ruben Vardanyan provided Azerbaijan with more arguments in favor of launching an anti-terrorist operation. The civilian population of Karabakh are our citizens, and if they are being held hostage and deprived of humanitarian supplies, if the situation reaches the red line, Azerbaijan will resolve the problem on its own. We know how to do that.
