The deep crisis between Russia and the West does not allow the Armenian authorities to speed up the process of handing over Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) to Azerbaijan, according to MP Tigran Abrahamyan of the opposition With Honor faction.

“The only room for "maneuvering" in the talks on Artsakh remains the deep crisis between Russia and the West, which does not allow to speed up the process of Artsakh’s surrender sought by the Armenian authorities,” he wrote on Facebook on Friday.

“Of course, in this crucial process concerning us, the Armenian authorities are in the status of a victim to see who and how will punish them, but the problem is that Armenia and Artsakh will suffer because of it.

“Despite the fact that the authorities have driven Armenia's negotiating capacity to a historic low and moved the process to inertia, relative peace is preserved only because at this stage the regional actors exercise particular caution, but these processes are simmering in the background, and it is difficult to say what new blows Armenia and Artsakh will suffer,” Abrahamyan said.