Can Russian peacekeepers keep Nagorno-Karabakh in peace?

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev in his address to the nation accused Armenia of all mortal sins. However, he actually spoke about Azeri army taking the Kelbajar region.

The winner, of course, takes it all. The Armenians will have to carry the cross of the  tragedy, in which they found no support even in those, whom Armenia counted on in the beginning.

The pro-Western policy of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan did not bring happiness to the country: the West did not support Armenia during the military conflict, nor does it react to the humanitarian catastrophe.

Armenians leave their homes, like Azerbaijanis did 30 years ago, fearing genocide on the part of the new authorities. Russia ought to look at the crisis to draw historical parallels and recall the events in Abkhazia in 1992 and in South Ossetia in 2008: the losing side had to leave as it was, abandoning everything it had. In interethnic conflicts, such things happen quickly and harshly, and houses were burning in Tskhinvali too, like they are burning now in the Kelbajar region.

Against such a background, the deployment of Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh became the only chance for the population of the region to survive.

According to the Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Russian servicemen of the 15th motorized rifle peacekeeping brigade of the Central Military District ensured the return of more than 11,000 local residents. Today, the Russian military is now engaged in demining the terrain, restoring traffic, electricity, water and heat supplies to social facilities and residential buildings.

They also have to patrol vehicles that carry food and essentials to remote communities. A mobile hospital has been dispatched to the republic. The country's leader Nikol Pashinyan believes that the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh is a long-running conflict.

The Russian peacekeepers will stay in Nagorno-Karabakh for more than five years.

Azerbaijan and Aliyev celebrate victory promising to preserve Christian churches and monuments in the territories that have come under the control of Baku.

At the same time, Turkey's promises regarding the Byzantine Cathedral of Hagia Sophia are fresh in everyone's memory.

Will the Russian peacekeepers be able to prevent such a development in Nagorno-Karabakh? This is not likely, because they have been deployed in only one area of the conflict zone, so they will not be able to show much influence on events in general. At the same time, Baku will keep on cherishing dreams to return all of Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan: the Azeris sited patiently for the good moment to come for 30 years.