UN says ready to work with Russia on Karabakh humanitarian aid

PanARMENIAN.Net - United Nations specialists are ready to work jointly with Russia to assess the volume of humanitarian assistance needed in Nagorno-Karabakh, a spokesman for the United Nations Secretary General, Stephane Dujarric, said on Monday, November 2, according to TASS.

"In response to a request from the Russian Federation and pending further details on the role and operating modalities of the Russian Inter-agency Humanitarian Response Centre, the Secretary-General has confirmed that the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and relevant UN entities are ready to cooperate and to discuss possible interaction and collaboration on the ground, including for the purpose of undertaking an initial independent inter-agency assessment in Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding areas, as soon as conditions permit, in order to obtain a comprehensive picture of the humanitarian needs on the ground," he told journalists.

He also said that the secretary general had had telephone talks with the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers to stress the organization’s readiness to offer humanitarian assistance to the countries.

"We hope that the cessation of hostilities will enable humanitarian actors to have the necessary access to all people in need in all areas affected by the conflict, including people displaced by the conflict, particularly in and around Nagorno-Karabakh," he added.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Russian and Azerbaijani Presidents Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev on November 10 signed a statement to end the war in Karabakh after almost 45 days. Under the deal, the Armenian side is returning all the seven regions surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, having lost a part of Karabakh itself in hostilities.