Armenia PM's advisor: Scandinavian peacekeepers in Karabakh unlikely

PanARMENIAN.Net - Vagharshak Harutyunyan, chief advisor to the Armenian Prime Minister, believes the deployment of Scandinavian peacekeepers in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone is unlikely.

U.S. National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien said earlier that the parties to the conflict “should accept Scandinavian peacekeepers, and we are working with Scandinavian governments to put together a peacekeeping force that could be deployed into the region to keep the ceasefire."

Harutyunyan said Saturday, October 31 that O'brien's has only made a proposal.

"The key issue today is the size and composition of the peacekeeping forces, as the interests of different states are being implemented through those peacekeeping forces," Harutyunyan tol Public TV of Armenia.

He reminded that Azerbaijan rejected the idea of deploying Russian peacekeepers in 1994 when Armenia was in favor of the plan, and said the story is repeating now.

"While the Armenian side said we are ready for Russian peacekeepers, Azerbaijan said it is against a third force. Baku is de facto rejecting the proposal," Harutyunyan said.

Azerbaijan, with help from Turkey and Syrian and Libyan mercenaries deployed by Ankara, started a war against Karabakh (Artsakh) in the morning of September 27. The Armenian side has reported deaths and injuries both among the civilian population and the military. Foreign and local journalists too have been injured in Azeri shelling of towns and villages.