Nagorno-Karabakh

Lord Purvis of Tweed Excerpts

Thursday 21st September 2023 Lords Chamber

[The Earl of Courtown (Con)]

The noble Lord mentions reconciliation and is quite right on that issue. There have to be talks between the parties, a lasting peace, a cease of violence, and humanitarian access. The points he makes are well made.

[Lord Purvis of Tweed (LD)]

My Lords, I associate myself with the noble Earl’s words regarding the further tragic deaths just this week. Will he agree that part of the UK’s assistance could be in technical support for peacebuilding work? There is likely to be further huge movement of individuals. There is uncertainty as to who will be the guarantors of the security and there is confusion over the role of Russia and the former peacekeepers. The UK can play an important role in this, so I hope we are offering that.

[The Earl of Courtown (Con)]

The noble Lord makes some good points. As he is aware, Russian peacekeepers are there, but Azerbaijan’s ability to conduct a military operation in full sight of them shows how committed Moscow is to peace and security in this area. This is an ongoing situation and the position is unclear, but we are making every effort to make representations. As I said earlier, my noble friend Lord Ahmad is at the UN. There is a UN Security Council meeting later today, where he will make these points. Later in the week, he has meetings with Foreign Ministers from that area, particularly the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan.