News - Peskov on Armenians’ exodus from Karabakh: Probably hard to say who's to blame

The Kremlin is closely following the development of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, stated Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov. In response to the request to comment on Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) President Samvel Shahramanyan's signing of the decree on ending the existence of Artsakh Republic as January 1, 2024, Peskov said: "We [i.e. Russia] take note [of that], we carefully monitor the situation, first of all, of course, the humanitarian aspect; that is the most important." "Our peacekeepers [in Nagorno-Karabakh] continue to help people. Many express their wish to move to the territory of Armenia; assistance is rendered to those who want it," added the representative of the Kremlin. Also, he drew attention to the fact that one of the points of the publicized document states that the people of Nagorno-Karabakh should get familiarized with the reintegration conditions proposed by Azerbaijan. "Of course, we will continue to pay attention to these humanitarian aspects," Peskov added. He said that Russia, in the situation of mass emigration of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh, is most concerned about the humanitarian aspect, and noted that it is important that the people are provided with normal conditions. "Probably, it is hardly possible to talk about who is to blame, as there is no direct reason for such actions, but, nevertheless, people express a wish to leave the territory of Karabakh. Some of them may wish to do it permanently, some—temporarily during the transformation period," said Peskov, responding to the reporters' questions about who is to blame and what, in his opinion, is the main reason for the emigration of Karabakh Armenians. "The main thing here is that those who made such a decision are provided with normal living conditions; that is, we are most worried about the purely humanitarian side of this issue," added the Russian presidential spox.