“Relations between the Russian Federation and the West were strained and remained strained, and the Munich conference did not change those strained relations one iota; they continue to be so. And they will remain so in the future,” said political scientist Armen Vardanyan in a conversation with Aravot.am, referring to Armenia-West-Russia relations in the context of the regular forum dedicated to security issues held in Munich.
To our observation that in the speech of the leaders of the European countries, particularly the President of France, at the Munich conference, the general line was that the document of November 9 and the program of the Russian side were not accepted by the European countries, therefore, to the question: how do you imagine the future process, the political scientist answered as follows: “This is Macron’s another similar statement.
Yes, he has repeatedly said that the West still does not agree that the Karabakh conflict is resolved; no matter how much Aliyev claims that there is no problem; the West understands very well that the conflict is not resolved, and it should be addressed in the future. The whole problem is that Russia also considers that the conflict is not resolved, but it wants it to remain frozen, not to be resolved, and the West is trying to resolve the conflict somehow.”
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We wondered whether RA had positioned itself correctly in this relationship so that our interest does not suffer in the West-Russia conflict, especially since we are caught between two rocks, Armen Vardanyan answered. “Yes, we are between two stones, but this, apart from the risks, also gives us an opportunity in the sense that we can maneuver and go in the direction we want. Let’s try to go that way if the Western plan is in our interests.
We can prolong the time by conducting negotiations with both parties. This gives a certain opportunity in that, no matter how much Russia tries with Azerbaijan to push the West out of the conflict, it does not succeed, which is generally in our favor.” According to our statement, in Munich, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated: “We cannot allow the Artsakh issue to be included in the peace agreement in any way” to the question, how would you describe his behavior, Armen Vardanyan answered, “Aliyev’s behavior is not new. He wants to bury the conflict in every possible way finally.
This is how it is presented in the Azerbaijani concept of the peace treaty. RA should renounce Artsakh, sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan, demarcate and delimit the borders, and bury the issue altogether. The Armenian side does not agree to this; it is ready to sign a peace agreement, but it should not be buried under the condition that the Artsakh issue should be resolved in the future. That is why the positions of Armenia and Azerbaijan are radically different here, and the peace treaty process will ultimately fail”.
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
