Friday,
Russia Laughs Off Pashinian’s Comments On Karabakh, CSTO
RUSSIA - Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova attends a
congress of the International Russophile Movement in Moscow, March 14, 2023.
Russia has reacted scathingly to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s latest
statements on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and Armenia’s increasingly tense
relationship with the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
Pashinian declared on Thursday Russia took on the role of the guarantor of
Karabakh’s security when it deployed Russian peacekeeping forces there following
the 2020 Armenian-Azerbaijani war. He said that if the peacekeepers are unable
to protect the Karabakh Armenians against Azerbaijani military attacks Moscow
should ask the UN Security Council to “activate additional international
mechanisms” in Karabakh and the Lachin corridor.
“This can be evaluated with one word: a miraculous ride,” Maria Zakharova, the
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, told reporters when asked to comment on
Pashinian’s statement.
“That phrase is so inexplicable that I’m not going to explain it. This is some
incredible equilibristics, you know,” she said, grinning and shrugging her
shoulders.
Zakharova also disputed Pashinian’s claim about the Russian security guarantee
for Karabakh, implying that it is at odds with the terms of the Russian-brokered
ceasefire that stopped the 20202 war.
“The Russian peacekeepers are doing everything they can to prevent an escalation
and to stabilize the situation on the ground in their zone of responsibility,”
she said.
“We regard the statements of the Armenian leadership as a continuation of the
line adopted at the October 2022 [Armenian-Azerbaijani] summit in Prague held
under aegis of the European Union. So we leave on the conscience of the Armenian
side, I mean the leadership of Armenia, the attempts to lay responsibility for
the fate of Nagorno-Karabakh on third countries,” added Zakharova.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier that Pashinian effectively
recognized Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh in a joint statement with
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, French President Emmanuel Macron and EU
chief Charles Michel issued after that summit. Lavrov said the Armenian leader
thus all but precluded a different peace deal favored by Moscow. It would
indefinitely delay an agreement on Karabakh’s status.
Zakharova declined to clarify what Russia will do if Azerbaijani launches a
military offensive to try to regain full control over Karabakh.
Her scathing reaction underlined growing friction between Russia and Armenia.
Armenian leaders have repeatedly complained about what they see as a lack of
Russian support in the conflict with Azerbaijan. They have accused the Russians
of doing little to get Baku to lift its three-month blockade of Karabakh’s sole
land link with Armenia.
Yerevan is also unhappy with the Collective Treaty Organization (CSTO), raising
questions about its continued membership in the Russian-led military alliance.
Pashinian claimed on Tuesday that it is the CSTO that could “leave Armenia.”
Zakharova laughed off that remark as well, saying that she has trouble
understanding its meaning.
Yerevan Mayor Resigns
• Gayane Saribekian
Armenia - Hrachya Sargsian takes over as mayor of Yerevan, December 22, 2021.
Yerevan’s mayor, Hrachya Sargsian, stepped down on Friday after only 15 months
in office.
Sargsian gave no clear reason for his resignation when he announced it at a
meeting with other senior officials from the municipal administration.
“Now that the [next] elections of the city council are approaching and there is
quite good cooperation between the mayor’s office and the government I want to
announce my resignation,” he said, adding that he will remain part of Armenia’s
ruling “political team.”
The elections of a new municipal council empowered to appoint the mayor are due
to be held September. It was not immediately clear whether Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian’s Civil Contract party, which controls the current council, engineered
Sargsian’s resignation to bring forward the vote.
The ruling party announced a year ago that former Deputy Prime Minister Tigran
Avinian will be its mayoral candidate in 2023. Avinian was appointed as one of
the city’s five deputy mayors in September.
The Armenian press has been rife with speculation lately that Avinian has low
approval ratings and is overshadowed by Sargsian despite leading most official
ceremonies organized by the municipality.
Isabella Abgarian, an independent member of the city council, said that the
mayor’s resignation is part of government efforts to boost Avinian’s chances in
the municipal elections.
“I see only one explanation,” she told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “They want to
make sure that the city is put under the exclusive control of Tigran Avinian
ahead of these elections.”
Abgarian said that despite being installed by the country’s leadership Sargsian
followed “his own line” and relied on “his own people” during his tenure.
In his farewell remarks, Sargsian said that he supports Avinian’s mayoral bid
and hopes that Pashinian’s party will win the upcoming polls. But he also
acknowledged differences within the municipal administration.
The current Yerevan council appointed Sargsian as mayor in December 2021 right
after ousting his predecessor Hayk Marutian, who fell out with Pashinian
following the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh. Marutian, who is a former TV
comedian, has since been coy about his participation in the 2023 polls.
None of Armenia’s major opposition groups have fielded mayoral candidates so far.
Yerevan Again Warns Of ‘Large-Scale’ Azeri Attack
• Ruzanna Stepanian
A view of Azerbaijani (L) and Armenian army posts on the Armenian-Azerbaijani
border, June 18, 2021
The Armenian government has again accused Azerbaijan of planning to launch fresh
military aggression against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, responding to
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s latest statements.
Speaking during a summit of Turkic nations held in Turkey on Thursday, Aliyev
said Armenia should be “held responsible” for its refusal to given Azerbaijan an
exterritorial land corridor to the Nakhichevan exclave.
Aliyev said Yerevan must also allow the return of thousands of Azerbaijanis who
fled Soviet Armenia following the outbreak of the Karabakh conflict in 1988. He
described them as the people of “western Azerbaijan” and said they must enjoy
the kind of “individual rights and security” which Baku is ready to ensure for
the Karabakh Armenians.
In a statement issued later in the day, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said
Aliyev’s comments amount to territorial claims to Armenia.
“The bellicose rhetoric of Azerbaijan’s leader is aimed at torpedoing efforts to
establish stability in the South Caucasus and resorting to the use of
large-scale force against both the sovereign territory of the Republic of
Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh,” it charged.
Yerevan already accused Baku of preparing the ground for another military
assault on Karabakh following the March 5 shootout near Stepanakert which left
three Karabakh police officers and two Azerbaijani soldiers dead. It has since
repeatedly denied Azerbaijani allegations that it illegally ships weapons to
Karabakh. Baku has threatened to use force to stop the alleged shipments.
The rising tensions in the conflict zone highlight a lack of progress towards
the signing of an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty sought by Baku.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian claimed on Tuesday that the Azerbaijani side is
rejecting most Armenian proposals regarding the would-be treaty and making more
demands unacceptable to Yerevan. He said that he will not sign any
“capitulation” deals with Aliyev.
Aliyev and Pashinian most recently met in Munich on February 18 for talks
mediated by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Aliyev said after the talks
that he is largely satisfied with their results.
The U.S. State Department announced later in February that the European Union’s
top official, Charles Michel, is due to host another Armenian-Azerbaijani summit
“in the coming days.” There have been indications so far that the summit could
take place soon.
Thomas de Wall, a veteran British journalist and analyst who has written
extensively about the Karabakh conflict, suggested on Thursday that Michel is
unlikely to kick-start the peace process as long as Azerbaijan continues its
blockade of the Lachin corridor.
“So the threat grows of more violence,” de Wall wrote on Twitter.
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2023 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
