More Russian Presence in Karabakh Please: Bako Sahakyan

Karabakh is greatly interested in the presence of Russia in the region, said president of the de-facto Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Bako Sahakyan in an interview with Ekho Moskvy (“Echo of Moscow”) radio’s Sergei Buntman, who travelled to Stepanakert, the capital of NKR, for the purpose of speaking to Sahakyan.

“Russia’s role here has always been, it is and we hope it will be. And we have a great interest in this issue because Russia historically has been present in this region and we quite respect the current efforts displayed by Russia. I’m referring to efforts as a mediating country and certain separate activities carried out within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group in order to reduce tension in the region, in particular in our conflict,” said Sahakyan.

Moreover, Sahakyan noted that Russia’s participation in the life of Karabakh is not determined by the OSCE Minsk Group.

“When we talk about Russia, we are talking about a friendly nation for Karabakh and the Karabakh people. We believe that Russia should be more widely represented here, strongly enhancing its ties with Armenia and Karabakh, in the same way as with Azerbaijan. And here we consider it perfectly normal that Russia tries to build its relations with Armenia and Azerbaijan — we see no betrayal in this. Because Russia’s mission and responsibility in the region is so great that Russia can’t not participate in the life of the Caucasus,” he said.