The Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the countries with friendly relations generally offer condolences and support to the states in a difficult situation, and do not blame them, and this is only the moral side of the issue. NA Vice President Ruben Rubinyan said in an interview with Public TV Company Monday, referring to the statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
“The saddest thing is that in a situation where the Armenian people have had many casualties and everyone sees the terrible situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, everyone sees that the security of the Republic of Armenia itself is threatened, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia’s ally country makes such a statement. The foreign ministries of the countries with friendly relations generally sympathize and support the states in a difficult situation, and do not blame them. This is the moral side of the issue.
The fact is that the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh was created because the statement of November 9 was violated on almost all points. That situation was created because Azerbaijan illegally blocked the Lachin corridor from the beginning, then attacked NK, and the Russian peacekeepers neither kept the Lachin corridor under their control nor prevented the attack on NK,” Rubinyan said.
Referring to the statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry that due to the short-sightedness of the Armenian leadership, it was not possible to implement a number of agreements in the field of strengthening Armenia’s security, in particular, Pashinyan did not sign the decision already agreed by all the foreign ministers of the six countries to send a Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) observation mission to Armenia’s regions bordering Azerbaijan, Rubinyan responded.
“In September 2022, the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan attacked the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia and occupied certain territories. CSTO, a structure whose responsibility is to protect the territorial integrity of its member states, not only failed to fulfill its obligation, but also did not fix the attack on the sovereign territory of RA. After that, the Prague meeting took place, then there was an agreement that EU observers would come to observe the RA borders, and only after that CSTO began to offer a CSTO observation mission, which RA did not reject, RA demanded one thing, that if the idea is that the CSTO observers should monitor the borders of Armenia, then they should be fixed, we know what they are, the international community knows, and the CSTO should fix those borders. It did not happen; there was no condemnation of the Azerbaijani attack.”
Referring to the part where the situation was heated up by official Yerevan’s denial of the continued presence of Armenian Armed Forces in Nagorno-Karabakh after November 9, 2020, which became one of the main reasons for the recent escalation in September, Rubinyan insisted that the Republic of Armenia did not have armed forces in Nagorno-Karabakh. “That statement completely contradicts the reality. One can say anything for not fulfilling one’s responsibilities, but that does not change the facts. Was there a Prague statement when Azerbaijan captured Old Tagher and Khtsaberd, when Parukh was captured, when the tractor driver sitting next to the Russian peacekeeper was killed by an Azerbaijani sniper?
Referring to the statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry that in regional matters, Pashinyan, instead of leaving the issue of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh to future generations, Rubinyan said: “If there was a gentleman’s agreement to postpone the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Russian Federation was the first to violate it, because in December 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that from the point of view of international law, Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions are part of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan repeatedly refused this logic, for example, Khovaev’s proposals, which Armenia agreed to, were rejected by Azerbaijan. In that case, why does the Russian Foreign Ministry accuse Armenia of violating the gentleman’s agreement?”
Regarding the observation of the Russian Foreign Ministry that this irresponsible approach of Pashinyan’s team caused understandable dissatisfaction among a part of the Armenian society, which was expressed by popular protests, and the claims that they were inspired by Russia, Rubinyan said. “Relations between the people of Armenia and their own government, be it dissatisfaction, admiration, hatred, it is exclusively the business of the government and its people. We expect that all states, whether they are friendly or not, are obliged to respect the sovereignty and independence of the Republic of Armenia.”