“Moscow comes up with suggestions that have to be ear-pleasing to the Armenian side, as well as content with the Azerbaijani side, which Russia is incapable of. So Russia bites off more than it can chew, especially digest. The pressure is directed against Armenia, however.” – this opinion was voiced by the vice-president of “For the Republic” party, Ruben Mehrabyan, during an interview with ”Aravot”, referring to the announcement made during the Pashinyan-Putin meeting in Sochi.
During the meeting, the Armenian Prime minister said that the Russian side’s approach, which suggests the “The main principles and parameters of establishing interstate relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia” project, is acceptable to us.
During a “Valday” club meeting a few days ago, the Russian President Vlaadimir Putin said: “As far as I understand, the Washington draft recognizes Azerbaijan’s sovereignty of Nagorno-Karabakh. If Armenia deems that acceptable, we will support any choice Armenian people make. If the Armenian leadership and Armenian people believe that Nagorno-Karabakh has certain special characteristics, which should make their way to the Peace treaty, then this option is also on the table. But they need to secure an agreement with Azerbaijan. These terms need to be acceptable for the other side as well.”
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In this regard, Ruben Mehrabyan noted that there is no Washington draft, things are said in Brussels and the USA supports those things. According to Mehrabyan, the agreement Armenia negotiated is essentially a carte blanche: “And we can see that Russia doesn’t seem to have estimated their abilities beyond ambitions, because I cannot imagine them trying to persuade Aliyev that the Karabakh issue doesn’t need to be solved. How will the situation develop? People in Artsakh demand the Russians stay there forever, as if Pashinyan has any authority over if they are going to stay or not. It needs to be discussed with Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan hasn’t even signed the five-year mandate of Russian peacekeepers. Russia cannot even solve that issue.”
Mehrabyan estimated the situation as extremely dangerous. Apparently, Azerbaijan will not be content with Russia’s proposal. What will happen in this scenario? In this regard, Mahrabyan said that a meeting will be held in Brussels in November, and the conversation will proceed without Russia: “and Russia will be told: do not initiate getting involved in the process. We are pursuing peace based on the principles of the Alma-Ata Declaration and the UN Charter. Secondly, Baku and Stepanakert need to have a conversation separately, under international auspies. This means Russia will simply not be able to be present in the process the way they want to, and the disproportionate demands are groundless.”
To our observation, that the parliament of Republic of Artsakh announced that Artsakh is never going to be a part of Azerbaijan, and the members of Artsakh’s parliament support the Russian proposal, Mehrabyan responded that the statement and theses voiced at the rally in Stepanakert beg many questions: “Putin said that Nagorno-Karabakh, along with surrounding regions are part of Azerbaijan. Are they welcoming this approach or are they asking for something, do they think Putin is going to back down from his position? Maybe they know something I don’t. And why do they ask something from Putin, but demand it from Armenia, as if Putin is in charge. In other words, are you only in the role of the wanter and have zero responsibility for the process of wanting? They are trying to use their political approaches to influence the internal political realities of Armenia as well.”
Nelli BABAYAN
