Kremlin: Nagorno-Karabakh can become ”a launch pad for terrorists” if the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict continues

The Kremlin has warned that Nagorno-Karabakh can become ”a launch pad for Islamist militants” if the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict continues.

Moscow expressed alarm after the deadliest fighting in more than 25 years between ethnic Armenian and Azeri forces entered a tenth day.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called for fighting to stop and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov voiced “serious concern about the unprecedented escalation” in a phone call with Iran’s foreign minister.

In this context, Peskov told reporters that Russia may stand up for Armenia under its Collective Security Treaty obligations, but these obligations do not cover the unrecognized republic of Nagorno-Karabakh.

“The obligations on security are as follows: if a CSTO member nation is subjected to aggression, an attack from outside, then the Treaty signatory nations have to protect this nation,” the spokesman said.

When asked in what case Russia would be ready to send its military to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict area, Peskov underscored that “this is rooted in the obligations” under the CSTO.

“In this case, we are talking about Armenia; [Russian President Vladimir Putin] has made it perfectly clear and he differentiated between these two issues: the CSTO obligations do not cover Karabakh,” the spokesman said.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that the Armenian authorities raised no question regarding Russia’s compliance with the CSTO obligations. The head of state recalled that Russia has obligations before Armenia – a CSTO member state – and noted that the hostilities do not take place on Armenian territory.

The CSTO is an international security organization, comprising six signatories: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. The CSTO aims to counter threats to security and stability and to protect territorial integrity and sovereignty of member states without meddling in their internal affairs.

Compiled by: Basma Qaddour