“I always see hidden threats to Armenia in Sergey Lavrov’s words,” replied political scientist Armen Vardanyan to Aravot.am’s question: what dangers do you see in the accusations of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov against Armenia?
Remember: Sergey Lavrov made several accusations against Armenia at the press conference following the meeting with Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov. According to him, “the method by which the Armenian side informed about the refusal of the planned meeting in Moscow raises serious questions.”
Sergey Lavrov specifically stated: “Before making such impromptu statements in the morning, that too in the parliament, in the news of the world, it was possible to make consultations, get help, advice regarding who to call for help in solving this or that conflict.”
In response to journalists’ questions, how would you interpret the refusal of the Armenian side? Sergey Lavrov answered: “Like you, we found out about this refusal from the information of the press service. As is usually done, Armenia did not use diplomatic channels. It is the decision of the Armenian side. No one agreement, done as a result of the war or a conflict, and which continued for decades, is implemented one hundred percent and at once. One way or another, there are violations, and the Peacekeepers deal with them. There are such points in the statements related to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Incidents happen, and our peacekeepers try to find solutions according to their mandate. These incidents, which are inevitable and must be dealt with promptly, will continue more and longer if one of the countries abandons the pre-agreed phase of negotiations after each incident. It has never benefited anyone. In addition, Ararat Mirzoyan also missed the opportunity to present his point of view to the international community, which Mr. Bayramov did.”
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According to Armen Vardanyan, the Armenian side made an obvious diplomatic demarche. To our question, what will that demarche bring to Armenia? The political scientist answered: “Time will tell whether the chosen measure was correct, but it is obvious that the Armenian side does not like the actions of the Kremlin, and they are already announcing it loudly. Nikol Pashinyan makes statements, and Ararat Mirzoyan goes on a diplomatic demarche. It is obvious that the RA authorities do not like the behavior of the Russian Federation.” Armen Vardanyan found it difficult to answer what calculation Armenia made with this step. According to him, Time will tell. “Our diplomatic and foreign policy officials made calculations. It will be difficult to say whether it will be a benefit or a loss for us. Time will show. Perhaps It may be useful. Russia will sober up, but it may also cause damage and create new problems for us despite this bold step of RA”.
Political scientist Armen Vardanyan
To our question, why has the Russian tone also changed? Sergey Lavrov says that if Baku and Yerevan want to refuse the services of Russian peacekeepers, they can sit at the negotiation table and think about another option.
Armen Vardanyan sees nothing new here. He said. “Lavrov used a diplomatic trick. He knows very well that at least the Armenian side will not abandon the peacekeepers at this stage. And they are trying to create such a situation as if they have no particular desire to act as peacekeepers, but it is simply a manifestation of goodwill on their part.
Meanwhile, Russia has always wanted to create conflicts in all post-Soviet countries and deploy its peacekeepers there. Previously, Russia had peacekeepers in Moldova, Ukraine, and Georgia. And now, after the 44-day war, it also achieved one more desired goal: deployed peacekeepers in Artsakh, which gave him additional leverage to put pressure on Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Russian Federation is trembling, doing everything to prevent its peacekeepers from leaving Artsakh while presenting it as a manifestation of their goodwill.”
We had a remark, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan is also making accusations against Armenia that “after presenting the proposals, the Armenian side announced Azerbaijan is refusing the meeting and spreading such misinformation is trying to create a wrong public opinion.
It means that the negotiations have reached an impasse, and what are the dangers of this situation?
Armen Vardanyan mentioned: “This situation, in general, contains certain risks because the worst negotiation is preferable to the best war. But there have been serious problems in the negotiation process between the parties for a long time. I thought that the parties would not succeed from the beginning, but the negotiation process has recently reached a dead end. On December 7, Azerbaijan refused to go to Brussels and meet with Pashinyan, and now Ararat Mirzoyan’s refusal.”
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