Question: How can you comment on the Prime Minister’s statement At a press conference on January 10 of this year, N.V. Pashinyan told Armenia about the readiness of the Armenian side to sign a document on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the basis of Russian proposals?
Answer: It is difficult to assess the position of the Armenian side when the statements of official Yerevan on the same issue differ significantly. During the aforementioned press conference, the Armenian Prime Minister spoke about the intention to sign a document based on Russian proposals, and at the same time about the preference for some kind of “comprehensive solution” to the conflict promoted by the West.
Earlier, the comments of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov detailed the chronicle of Russian efforts both in bilateral formats and within the framework of international mechanisms to resolve the Karabakh problem, including the implementation of the statement of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia of November 9, 2020 and related trilateral agreements.
Yerevan’s agreement to rely on the Alma-Ata Declaration of 1991 when drafting a peace treaty with Baku, which was enshrined in the statement following the October 2022 summit in Prague, radically changed the logic of the negotiation process. The Alma-Ata Declaration confirmed the inviolability of the borders that existed between the republics of the Soviet Union. At that time, the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region was part of the Azerbaijan SSR. Of course, this circumstance is very difficult to ignore in the peace process between Baku and Yerevan.
We would also like to remind you that a meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan on the peace treaty was scheduled for December 23, 2022 in Moscow. The leaders of the two countries agreed to it. Everything was prepared for its holding. But it was the Armenian leadership that canceled the arrival of Armenian Foreign Minister A.S. Mirzoyan at the last moment. This prevented us from discussing not only the peace treaty, but also other pressing issues of Armenian-Azerbaijani normalization, including the situation around the Lachin corridor.
If the Armenian partners are really interested in solving these problems in line with the comprehensive implementation of the trilateral agreements at the highest level, then instead of engaging in scholasticism, it is necessary to continue working together. The Russian proposal to provide a platform for the Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations on a peace treaty remains in force.
A source: https://www.mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1846891/
