“It should be noted that in the Parukh-Karaglukh section, the Azerbaijani troops made progress in the area of responsibility of the Russian peacekeepers. Neither in this case, nor in the past, when Azeri targets were carried out in the direction of the territories of Armenia, a CSTO member, an ally of Russia, did Russia respond adequately, even when Armenia formally applied to the CSTO,” Hovsep Khurshudyan, President of the Free Citizen NGO, said on April 4 during the presentation of the report on the provocations carried out by Armenia and Azerbaijan after the signing of the trilateral statement on November 9, 2020, authored by the Armenian Institute for Security Affairs.
Adviser of the Russian Embassy in Armenia Alexander Novikov was present at the discussion (in the photo). He expressed his sorrow that his speech partner was not sufficiently informed. “It is obvious from the news on the official websites of the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Russian President that Russia has responded and taken the necessary measures, and continues to take them. Today the Russian peacekeepers are located in the zone of tension. They are doing their job, taking all the necessary measures. In case of being informed, it will be difficult to agree with the thesis “Russia is doing nothing.”
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” Then, during the expert discussion, Russia was criticized and the actions of the peacekeeping forces were questioned. Political scientist Ruben Mehrabyan expressed an opinion that having at least the support of Russia and Turkey, Azerbaijan is trying to become a dictator in the region. “Azerbaijan intends to carry out the eviction of Armenians in an open text, it wants a desovereignized corridor from us. Russia will control Armenia in the conditions of de-sovereignization of those communications, so it is beneficial for it.”
Alexander Novikov expressed conviction that the participants of the discussion are polite, patriotic people and guided by the emotional interests of the Republic of Armenia. “In my opinion, in any case, we should focus on the only real way for the countries of the region. Through the mediation of Russia, the parties to the conflict signed a statement, which contains a number of provisions, including the unblocking of road and transport communications for the development of the region. You have to go that reliable way.
As for the “secret agreements” of official Moscow with someone, to be honest, I will find it difficult to say anything in this audience. For my part, I can add that I am not in favor of conspiracy theories. They are boring.”
Hovsep Khurshudyan did not agree. “Let me remind you that the gas pipeline did not operate in the zone of responsibility of Russia for twenty days. It is about the Russian control zone. During that time there was no response from the Russian side, except for what Maria Zakharova once said that she applied to the Armenian-Azerbaijani sides. Artsakh was on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe in those days. And according to one of the points of the trilateral statement, all the captives must be returned, the guarantor of which is Russia.
Meanwhile, the Russian delegation in the Council of Europe avoided taking part in the voting on that issue. And the United States was the first to respond to the incident Parukh, then France, then only Russia, which should have been the first to respond. So, the deal is so visible that it is not a conspiracy inspection, but a fact.”
Then Arsen Kharatyan, former adviser to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on foreign policy issues, asked Novikov, what do you mean by transport blockade, what is the obligation of the Armenian side, should we give a corridor to someone? Alexander Novikov replied that the tripartite statement says everything. “If you have additional questions, we will be happy to discuss them separately.”
Luiza Sukiasyan
