Armenian PM ready to extend Russian peacekeepers’ mandate in Karabakh for 20 years

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is ready to sign a document at a trilateral meeting in Sochi to extend the mandate of Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh for up to 20 years, he said on Saturday.

A trilateral meeting between Russian President Valdimir Putin and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and Pashinyan is due to be held in Sochi on Monday, October 31, 2022.

“We want the Russian peacekeepers to continue their mission. I’m prepared to put my signature on a document in Sochi extending the peacekeepers’ mandate for 10, 15, or 20 years. I suggest that the Russian President come up with this initiative. I can make the proposal, but Russia needs to support it,” Pashinyan said.

He also noted that he cannot resolve the issue of extending the mandate on his own, since this is a tripartite document. “If Armenia and Russia come to an agreement on this issue, they become the majority,” Pashinyan said.

Source: Itar Tass

Edited by Hamda Mustafa