Author: Antranik Varosian

                                        Wednesday, 


Pashinian Defends Concessions To Azerbaijan

        • Nane Sahakian
        • Tatevik Sargsian

Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian addresses parliament, .


Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Wednesday reaffirmed his government’s 
readiness to formally recognize Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and said 
Armenia is facing international pressure to scale back its demands on 
Nagorno-Karabakh’s status.

“Today the international community is clearly telling us that being the only 
country in the world that does not bilaterally recognize the territorial 
integrity to Turkey’s ally Azerbaijan is very dangerous for not only Artsakh 
(Karabakh) but also Armenia,” Pashinian told the Armenian parliament.

“Today the international community is again telling us, ‘Lower a bit your bar on 
the question of Nagorno-Karabakh’s status and we will ensure a great 
international consolidation around Armenia and Artsakh.’ Or else, says the 
international community, please do not pin your hopes on us. Not because we 
don’t want to help you but because we can’t help you,” he said in an hour-long 
speech.

Pashinian said he is therefore keen to sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan “as 
soon as possible.” He reiterated that Baku’s proposals regarding such an accord, 
including a mutual recognition of each other’s territorial integrity, are 
acceptable to Yerevan. He again stated that a “clarification of the final status 
of Nagorno-Karabakh” must also be on the agenda of upcoming Armenian-Azerbaijani 
talks on the treaty.

Nagorno-Karabakh -- Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian holds a rally in 
Stepanakert, August 5, 2019

Pashinian did not explicitly say whether his administration is also ready to 
formally recognize Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh. He noted only that 
Yerevan will put the emphasis on “security guarantees for the Armenians of 
Karabakh and their rights and freedoms.”

Armenian opposition leaders were quick to strongly condemn the remarks. Ishkhan 
Saghatelian, a senior member of the main opposition Hayastan alliance, said 
Pashinian openly expressed his intention to place Karabakh back under 
Azerbaijani control.

“This means that we would finally lose Artsakh because Artsakh will be left 
without Armenians if we go down that path,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. 
“This is absolutely unacceptable to us.”

Saghatelian said that regime change in Armenia is the only way to prevent such a 
scenario.

Hayastan and the other parliamentary opposition bloc, Pativ Unem, jointly 
rallied thousands of supporters in Yerevan on April 5 to warn the Armenian 
government against making far-reaching concessions to Baku. They signaled plans 
to stage more such protests in the coming weeks.

Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met in Brussels on April 6 for 
talks hosted by Charles Michel, the European Union’s top official. Michel 
described the trilateral meeting as “productive,” saying that the two leaders 
agreed to “move rapidly” towards the peace deal.

Belgium - European Council President Charles Michel, Armenian Prime Minister 
Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev begin a trilateral 
meeting in Brussels, April 6, 2022.

Aliyev sounded satisfied with the Brussels talks when he addressed members of 
his government on Tuesday. He said it became clear to him that “Armenia is 
renouncing territorial claims” to Azerbaijan.

Aliyev also emphasized the fact that Michel’s written statement issued after the 
talks made no mention of the Karabakh conflict or the Armenian-populated 
territory itself.

The Azerbaijani president regularly says that his country’s victory in the 2020 
war with Armenia put an end to the conflict. Armenian leaders disputed that 
claim until recently.

Pashinian on Wednesday did not specify whether the pressure on the Armenian side 
emanates only from the West or Russia as well.

Russia, the United States and France have for decades co-headed the OSCE Minsk 
Group tasked with brokering a Karabakh settlement. Russian Foreign Minister 
Sergei Lavrov said last week that Washington and Paris have stopped cooperating 
with Moscow on the Armenian-Azerbaijani dispute because of the war in Ukraine. 
U.S. and French officials have not denied that.

Pashinian is scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on April 19 
during an official visit to Moscow.



Karabakh Armenians Concerned About Pashinian’s Statement


Nagorno-Karabakh - President Arayik Harutyunyan meets with representatives of 
Karabakh non-governmental organizations, Stepanakert, .


Arayik Harutiunian, the Nagorno-Karabakh president, held an emergency meeting 
with the leaders of local political groups on Wednesday to discuss what he 
called serious concerns raised by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s latest 
statement on the conflict with Azerbaijan.

Speaking in the Armenian parliament earlier in the day, Pashinian said Armenia 
is facing international pressure to scale back its long-standing demands on 
Karabakh’s status and recognize Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. He signaled 
Yerevan’s intention to make such concessions to Baku, stoking Armenian 
opposition allegations that he has agreed to Azerbaijani control over Karabakh.

Harutiunian discussed Pashinian’s statement with Karabakh civil society members 
at a meeting in Stepanakert. His press office said they “expressed outrage” at 
the remarks and demanded that Karabakh’s leadership formulate a “clear political 
position” on them.

The Karabakh leader assured them that the authorities in Stepanakert will 
continue to assert the Karabakh Armenians’ right to self-determination.

Harutiunian went on to hold a separate meeting with other Karabakh officials and 
the leaders of the territory’s main political parties. He said he convened it 
because Pashinian’s statement has “caused serious concern among the public.”

“Our society presents very clear demands which we must meet by organizing 
meaningful and comprehensive discussions,” added Harutiunian.

Harutiunian’s foreign minister, Davit Babayan, insisted late last month that the 
Karabakh Armenians will never agree to live under Azerbaijani rule.

“This is the red line which we will never cross regardless of anything,” Babayan 
told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.



Armenian Authorities Deny Responsibility For Karabakh Travel Ban

        • Gayane Saribekian
        • Karlen Aslanian

Russian peacekeepers guard an area in the town of Lachin (Berdzor), December 1, 
2020.


Armenia’s leadership again indicated on Wednesday that it did not ask Russian 
peacekeepers to bar a group of Armenian opposition lawmakers from entering 
Nagorno-Karabakh.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian added his voice to the Armenian Foreign 
Ministry’s criticism of the unprecedented ban.

The several dozen deputies representing Armenia’s two main opposition groups 
headed to Karabakh on Tuesday as part of their campaign against far-reaching 
Armenian concessions to Azerbaijan. They announced earlier in the day a four-day 
boycott of sessions of the National Assembly.

Russian peacekeepers manning a checkpoint in the Lachin corridor connecting 
Armenia and Karabakh did not allow the lawmakers to proceed to Stepanakert after 
checking their documents.

The Foreign Ministry in Yerevan expressed concern over the peacekeepers’ 
actions, saying that they run counter to the terms of the Russian-brokered 
ceasefire that stopped the Armenian-Azerbaijani war in November 2020.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian echoed the criticism when he spoke in the 
parliament on Wednesday. He called the ban a “cause for bewilderment.”

“The Russian side has clarified that provocations could have occurred and that 
their entry to Nagorno-Karabakh was deemed not expedient in order to prevent 
those provocations,” Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said for his part.

Opposition leaders continued to claim, however, that the Armenian authorities 
engineered the travel ban as part of their secret agreements with Azerbaijan.

Armenia - Opposition deputy Gegham Manukian at a parliament session in Yerevan, 
October 27, 2021

“Our attempted visit yesterday accidentally exposed some secret agreements to 
restrict Armenian deputies’ and other officials’ trips to Artsakh,” Gegham 
Manukian of the Hayastan alliance told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.

Manukian again argued that shortly before reaching the Lachin checkpoint he and 
the other opposition parliamentarian were stopped by Armenian border guards and 
had their personal data collected. He suggested that it was immediately passed 
on to the Russians.

“We were told yesterday that this is the first day of such an [Armenian] 
checkpoint operating there,” he said. “We found out today that the checkpoint is 
no longer there. The border guards probably set up the checkpoint because of our 
trip to Artsakh.”

Manukian also pointed out that lawmakers representing Pashinian’s Civil Contract 
party condemned the trip when it was announced by Hayastan’s parliamentary 
leader, Seyran Ohanian, on Tuesday morning.

One of the pro-government lawmakers, Vigen Khachatrian, dismissed the opposition 
allegations. “I have the impression that they expected that [travel ban,]” he 
said.

Pashinian and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev agreed to start preparing for 
an Armenian-Azerbaijani “peace treaty” when they met in Brussels on April 6. 
Armenian opposition leaders portrayed this as a further sign that Pashinian is 
ready to help Azerbaijan regain control over Karabakh.



Armenian Minister Hopes To Reverse Drop In Trade With Sanctions-Hit Russia


Russia - Russian Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov (second from right) 
meets with Armenian Economy Minister Vahan Kerobian, Moscow, .


Economy Minister Vahan Kerobian called on Wednesday for urgent measures to 
reverse a decrease in Armenia’s trade with Russia which followed the Russian 
invasion of Ukraine and the resulting Western sanctions against Moscow.
Kerobian discussed the matter with Russia’s Industry and Trade Minister Denis 
Manturov during a visit to Moscow.

Official Armenian and Russian press released on their talks noted that 
Russian-Armenian trade rose last year by 12.7 percent to over $2.5 billion. 
Russia thus solidified its status as Armenia’s number one trading partner.

Kerobian was reported to express concern at the fact that bilateral trade began 
falling in March. According to the Armenian Ministry of Economy, he suggested to 
Manturov that the two sides work together to “urgently eliminate the causes of 
the decline and restore growth.”

It was not clear whether Kerobian proposed any specific measures for that 
purpose.

The Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade reported, for its part, that the two 
ministers discussed “a number of joint projects in various sectors.”

“Denis Manturov stressed the importance of developing cooperation in the 
following spheres: mining, metallurgy, chemical industry and agricultural 
engineering,” it said in a statement.

The close economic ties between the two countries are the reason why Armenia is 
expected to be significantly affected by the Western sanctions. The Central Bank 
of Armenia (CBA), the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have 
forecast that the Armenian economy will barely grow this year.

“The impact of the war in Ukraine and sanctions on Russia is likely to be 
significant given Armenia’s strong economic links with Russia,” the World Bank 
said in a report released on Monday.

The CBA warned earlier that Russian-owned companies operating in Armenia will 
experience major “difficulties and disruptions” because of the crippling 
sanctions.

One such company, the Teghut mining giant, suspended operations on March 14. The 
company employing 1,100 people is controlled by Russia’s VTB bank sanctioned by 
the United States and the European Union.


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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