Category: 2023

Gurgen Khachatryan: The future of Armenia is undoubtedly digital and green

Emil Lazarian
Armenia – May 17 2023
On the occasion of the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day, Gurgen Khachatryan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ucom, released a message today, in which he shared how he and his brother delved into the world of telecommunications, how his grandfather inspired him and how the company was created.

The message reads:

“Children might perceive telecommunications as a mundane subject, involving intricate networks of slender wires, radio waves, and transmitters. However, this only scratches the surface of its vast complexities. My brother and I hold indelible memories from our school years, dashing through the corridors of the telephone exchange after school hours. This building housed a solitary, analog rack with blinking lights that occupied an entire floor. The most exhilarating aspect was undoubtedly the ability to facilitate people’s conversations, albeit with the occasional misconnection and getting caught by our grandfather during our mischiefs.

Today, we commemorate the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day, a day that celebrates our dedicated team at Ucom, industry experts, and my 92-year-old grandfather, Gurgen. Gurgen Tadevos Khachatryan, a veteran in the field, was among the first “communicators” in Soviet Armenia to attain the highest qualification. He led the Nairi regional communication hub for an impressive 25 consecutive years and is the only person in the field with a half-century of leadership experience.

It was my grandpa Gurgen who inspired my brother and I to delve into the world of telecommunications, to establish our own company, and ultimately, to celebrate the milestone of our 10,000th subscriber at Ucom about a decade ago. Grandfather Gurgen is the catalyst for my desire to discuss, on this World Telecommunication Day, the responsibility we bear in constructing robust, future-proof networks and passing them down to ensuing generations.

The transition from one generation to the next, from analog to digital, has resulted in the telecommunications of today and the future being vastly different in terms of technology, bandwidth, and scalability compared to the networks of pasts, with their nostalgic “switch” memories. Modern telecommunications, as a unified service provider, seamlessly connects infrastructures, corporations, systems, and smart devices, equipping them with data and artificial intelligence capabilities. However, how prepared are Armenian businesses for these transformations? According to our data, only a minuscule percentage of entrepreneurs seem ready. And what about our urban infrastructure’s readiness for a mobile future?

Today, nations with a keen focus on technological adaptation are witnessing exponential growth, while countries like ours are struggling with a comparatively slow pace of progress. This is not just currently inadequate, but it also poses substantial challenges for the coming decade.

The telecommunications industry, by necessity, requires digitization of operators and infrastructure to reap the financial benefits from investments in fifth-generation networks. For developing economies, particularly that of Armenia, digitization is crucial to prevent further widening of the chasm in business competitiveness that runs parallel with the evolution of contemporary technologies.

We firmly believe that cutting-edge telecommunication infrastructures will stimulate economic growth and open up novel opportunities for both seasoned and aspiring entrepreneurs. Yesterday’s announcement of the next phase of the Ucom-Ericsson partnership signifies the initiation of fifth-generation technological solutions with unparalleled technological and environmental support. It also marks the advent of our new green social responsibility strategy aimed at infrastructure and environmental protection.

As a company founded on Armenian capital and steered by Armenian experts, we understand the cost of missed opportunities and the vital mission to empower the younger generation. Consequently, we extend an invitation for collaboration to all Armenian businesses that align with this vision and have faith in the digital future of our nation. However, our commitment goes beyond this. Moving forward, all new technologies from Ucom will be equally accessible in the capital city as well as the most secluded settlements of Armenia. We perceive it as our responsibility and mission to ensure the essential green “connection” for our compatriots in their respective localities.

Lastly, Ucom embarks on a new stage of evolution under the proficient guidance and the vast experience within the telecommunications sector of CEO Ralph Yirikian. We are confident that the new strategy will yield exemplary outcomes and build a sustainable network for both Armenian entrepreneurs and all our compatriots, regardless of their location. At Ucom, we pride ourselves on our mastery of our craft. The best is yet to come.


Ucom modernising Armenian network with Ericsson Nikola Tesla

Emil Lazarian
Developing Telecoms
May 17 2023
JAMES BARTON

Armenia’s Ucom is renewing its collaboration with Ericsson Nikola Tesla as it seeks to upgrade its infrastructure across the market.

Ralph Yirikian, Director General of Ucom, described the extension of the longstanding partnership as “a new era of strategic development”, with a statement from the operator noting that the partnership “introduces a new model of green responsibility with less adverse carbon footprint in addition to the lowest energy consumption” to ensure “greater efficiency, readiness, and agility to meet the future demands of the network.”

“Based on our mutual cooperation and the latest software solutions, Ucom’s network will be even more efficient in the future and will bring greater benefits to their customers,’ added Gordana Kovacevic, President of Ericsson Nikola Tesla.

https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-technology/wireless-networks/14991-ucom-modernising-armenian-network-with-ericsson-nikola-tesla.html

Foreign ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan to meet in Moscow on Friday

Babken Chilingarian
Al-Arabiya, UAE
May 17 2023

The foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan are set to meet in Moscow on Friday for talks on resolving a decades-long territorial dispute, Russia said.

The meeting follows several rounds of talks led by the European Union and United States.

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Brussels and Washington’s increased diplomatic engagement in the Caucasus has irked traditional regional power-broker Russia.

A meeting involving the foreign ministers of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan “will take place in Moscow on May 19,” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters.

Before the trilateral talks the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers, Ararat Mirzoyan and Jeyhun Bayramov, are expected to discuss a draft peace treaty, she said.

Baku and Yerevan fought two wars — in 2020 and in the 1990s — for control of Azerbaijan’s Armenian-populated region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Six weeks of hostilities in autumn 2020 ended with a Russian-brokered ceasefire that saw Armenia cede swathes of territory it had controlled for decades.

Yerevan has grown increasingly frustrated over what it calls Moscow’s failure to protect Armenia in the face of military threat from Azerbaijan.

With Russia bogged down in Ukraine and unwilling to strain ties with Azerbaijan’s key ally Turkey, the United States and European Union have sought to steer the talks.

On Sunday, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met in Brussels for a new round of talks hosted by European Council President Charles Michel.

Another meeting between Pashinyan and Aliyev was set for June 1 in Moldova and is expected to involve French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Opinion | Azerbaijan cannot be allowed to normalise its Lachin checkpoint

Emil Lazarian
May 9 2023
 9 May 2023

ByTigran Grigoryan

Azerbaijan is seeking to justify and normalise its checkpoint on the Lachin Corridor. If it remains in place, the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh can never safely travel in and out of the region, and the entire peace process could be in jeopardy.

On 28 April, Azerbaijan’s self-styled ‘environmental activists’ who were blocking the Shushi-Qarin tak intersection on the Goris-Stepanakert highway for more than three months halted their protest. These ‘eco-activists’ were substituted by Azerbaijani police officers and that part of the road continues to be blocked.

This came after an Azerbaijani checkpoint was set up in the Lachin Corridor a few days prior. Baku, which had previously denied any involvement in the blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh (or even its existence), has now officially taken responsibility for enforcing it.

After the installation of the checkpoint in the Lachin Corridor, Azerbaijani officials and pro-government experts have been trying to normalise it by peddling various propagandistic narratives. Some of them, in truly Orwellian fashion, have even characterised Baku’s escalatory steps as contributing to progress in the peace process.

In an attempt to present an image of normalcy, Azerbaijan’s border service published a video on 30 April showing several citizens of Nagorno-Karabakh passing the checkpoint in the Lachin Corridor. It later turned out that these were residents of Hin Shen, Mets Shen, Yeghtsahogh, and Lisagor, villages of the Shushi region which have been under a double blockade since the installation of the Azerbaijani checkpoint at the entrance of the Lachin Corridor.

They travelled to the town of Goris in Armenia with the help of the Russian peacekeeping contingent to get necessary supplies and were essentially forced to go through passport control on their way back home in the presence of the peacekeepers. These people were then used for propaganda purposes.

The Azerbaijani government has resorted to two main narratives to justify its recent actions on the ground and the establishment of a checkpoint in the Lachin Corridor. 

The first one seeks to deflect criticism by claiming that these actions do not contravene the 9 November ceasefire statement. The second one aims to downplay the significance of establishing the checkpoint in an attempt to persuade the international community that the corridor can function properly with an actual Azerbaijani presence on it.

It would be an understatement to describe these arguments as anything other than misleading and untrue. 

The main claim of various Azerbaijani commentators regarding the 9 November statement is focused on the last paragraph of the document’s sixth point, where it is stipulated that Baku ‘shall guarantee safe movement of citizens, vehicles, and cargo in both directions along the Lachin Corridor’. The majority of officials and pro-government experts in Azerbaijan argue that this paragraph doesn’t exclude the possibility of establishing a checkpoint in the corridor. Moreover, they claim that the checkpoint was installed to guarantee safe movement of citizens, vehicles, and cargo. 

There is no basis for this claim as it is clearly stipulated in the sixth point of the ceasefire statement that the corridor must be under the control of the Russian peacekeeping contingent: ‘The Lachin Corridor (5 km wide), which will provide a connection between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia while not passing through the territory of Shusha, shall remain under the control of the Russian Federation peacemaking forces’.’

It is noteworthy that the Lachin Corridor is not just a road but a stretch of territory that is 5 kilometres wide. If the ceasefire statement does not exclude the possibility of Azerbaijani presence in the corridor and it is a territory that is supposed to be under Azerbaijani control, why would it be stipulated that the corridor must be 5 kilometres wide? It is also obvious that any sort of Azerbaijani presence in the Lachin passage strips it of the ‘corridor’ status. 

Perfectly understanding the illogical nature of the aforementioned argument, some Azerbaijani experts, whose job is to articulate Baku’s actions in a language that foreign audiences can comprehend, have gone one step further. 

Thus, Farid Shafiyev, the head of the Center of Analysis of International Relations in Baku, a government-affiliated foreign policy think tank, argued in one of his recent tweets: ‘The trilateral statement of 10.11.2020 cannot (even if someone would interpret that it envisages no post) overwrite Azerbaijan’s Constitution and legislation’.

This represents a notable change in language that indicates the evolving situation on the ground. Essentially, through its informal channels, Baku is conveying the message: ‘We are violating the ceasefire statement because we have the capability to do so’. Given these circumstances, it is appropriate to question the prudence of signing any new documents with Azerbaijan at this time.

As indicated earlier, the second main narrative from Baku regarding the installation of the checkpoint in the Lachin Corridor attempts to present an image of normalcy. Azerbaijan seeks to demonstrate that it is feasible for Nagorno-Karabakh’s Armenians to safely use the Goris-Stepanakert highway, even with an Azerbaijani checkpoint present.

The above narrative contradicts the current reality on the ground. There are evident reasons why it is impossible to ensure safe passage along the Lachin road while an Azerbaijani checkpoint remains in place.

To begin with, the Azerbaijani border service that oversees the checkpoint has a track record of intimidating Karabakh civilians. For instance, in September 2021, Azerbaijani border guards and police stopped a minibus carrying Armenian children from Karabakh on the Goris-Kapan highway (in Armenia’s Syunik Province) and subjected them to harassment by shouting ‘Karabakh is Azerbaijan', while scraping off a Nagorno-Karabakh flag sticker from their vehicle.

Additionally, the state border service actively participated in the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War and was involved in war crimes. This was particularly documented in a vast fact-finding report compiled by Open Society Foundations-Armenia (page 59). One such instance occurred in October 2020 in Zangilan, where Azerbaijani state border service personnel executed four Armenian prisoners of war.

Another fundamental problem that makes Azerbaijani presence in the Lachin Corridor incompatible with the free movement of Armenians through that route is the risk of arbitrary kidnappings of civilians by the Azerbaijani side. The majority of Nagorno-Karabakh’s population could be captured on trumped-up accusations. 

Nearly the whole male population in Nagorno-Karabkah has served in the local army and participated in the defence of Nagorno-Karabakh during the two wars. There cannot be viable guarantees that these people will not be captured and tried in Azerbaijan as Baku considers these actions to be illegal. 

The presence of the Russian peacekeeping force in the area is clearly not an obstacle for Baku, as we have already seen on a number of occasions. Given this risk, it is clear that Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh will not use the Lachin road while the checkpoint remains in place.

Footage from RFE/RL showed Russian peacekeepers looking on as construction of the Azerbaijani checkpoint was underway.

The unilateral installation of a checkpoint in the Lachin Corridor by Azerbaijan, that has been condemned by all the major actors, is a serious breach of the ceasefire statement of 2020. 

Baku’s actions are intended to tighten the blockade and impose solutions that would lead to the eventual exodus of the Armenian population from Nagorno-Karabakh. 

In that respect, it is crucial that the key international stakeholders involved in the region resist Azerbaijan’s attempts to normalise this new status quo on the ground.

There should also be an understanding that Baku’s recent moves pose a grave challenge to the whole security architecture in the South Caucasus. 

The ceasefire statement is the basis for all the processes unfolding in the Armenian-Azerbaijani context in the last two and a half years. If a key point of the statement is openly violated by one of the sides, everything else on the agenda might also lose relevance.

The opinions expressed and place names and terminology used in this article are the words of the author alone, and may not necessarily reflect the views of OC Media’s editorial board.

By Tigran Grigoryan

Tigran is a political analyst and the head of the Regional Center for Democracy and Security in Yerevan. He is also a columnist and a political commentator at CivilNet. Tigran previously worked at the Office of Armenia’s Security Council

 

As Armenia-Azerbaijan diplomacy advances, a solution to Karabakh remains elusive

Liana Toganian
May 17 2023
Joshua Kucera May 17, 2023
An Azerbaijani victory monument in the formerly Armenian-populated town of Hadrut in Nagorno-Karabakh (Azertac)

As diplomacy intensifies between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the two sides appear close to reaching agreement on some critical issues, the most sensitive issue of all – the fate of the ethnic Armenian population of Karabakh – remains the biggest sticking point.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, and European Union President Charles Michel met on May 14 in Brussels, following up on multi-day negotiations between the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers in Washington two weeks earlier. 

In Michel’s statement to the press following the meeting, one figure attracted particular attention: a reference to Azerbaijan’s approximate total area, 86,600 square kilometers. It was mentioned in the context of Armenia and Azerbaijan agreeing to recognize the other’s territorial integrity. The specific number underscored that in terms of Azerbaijan, this includes Nagorno-Karabakh, still populated by tens of thousands of ethnic Armenians.

It is yet further confirmation that Armenia is prepared to accept Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh. It is a dramatic shift following nearly three decades of helping to prop up the ethnic Armenian, self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic that was formed after the first war between the two sides in the 1990s and the resultant ethnic cleansing of the region’s former ethnic Azerbaijani population.

“Armenia has accepted what the international community has accepted all along, that Karabakh was, is, and will remain part of Azerbaijan,” said one Western diplomat familiar with the negotiations, speaking to Eurasianet on condition of anonymity. 

But in the current negotiations with Azerbaijan, Armenia is seeking guarantees that the region won’t now see another round of ethnic cleansing. Yerevan is trying to ensure that a peace agreement with Baku guarantees the rights and security of the Karabakh Armenians, maintained by some kind of international mechanism.

Azerbaijan, for its part, argues that what happens in Karabakh is solely a domestic issue, not subject to any international interference.

In his statement, Michel said that the talks included “exchanges on the issue of the rights and security of Armenians living in the former Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Oblast.” And he included a pointed appeal to Baku: “I encouraged Azerbaijan to engage in developing a positive agenda with the aim of guaranteeing the rights and security of this population, in close cooperation with the international community.”

Azerbaijan has yet to demonstrate much interest in developing a positive agenda. In their public statements, Azerbaijani officials have not offered any vision of how Armenians’ cultural, educational, language or any other rights may be protected, instead offering take-it-or-leave-it ultimatums.

“We have repeatedly stated that we will not discuss our internal affairs with any country. Karabakh is our internal matter,” Aliyev said in an April 18 interview. “Armenians living in Karabakh should either accept Azerbaijani citizenship or find another place to live.” 

The Western diplomat said that the negotiations have touched on local rights for Karabakh Armenians (without providing specifics) but said that the onus also was on Baku to do more publicly. 

“You can only do so much behind closed doors. What is needed is for Baku to step up to the plate and say that this is what we are offering, these are the reassurances that we are willing to give so people feel safe to stay where they are,” the diplomat said. 

“It should be in the Azerbaijanis’ own best interest to come up with something that is magnanimous enough to assure the Karabakhis, within the framework of Azerbaijan’s own laws and regulations,” the diplomat continued. “It shouldn’t be all that difficult, and it would buy Azerbaijan a heck of a lot of international recognition if this matter is handled well.” 

Azerbaijan may be willing to offer certain special rights for Armenians in Karabakh, said Shujaat Ahmadzada, a researcher at the Baku-based Topchubashov Center. Closed-door discussions in Baku have raised potential examples like Croatia, where Serbs have certain religious and cultural accommodations, Ahmadzada told Eurasianet. Another potential model is the West Bank, where Palestinians have locally elected authorities and local police and other institutions, he said.

But Azerbaijan first wants to get assurances that it will have full sovereignty over Karabakh and that Karabakh will have no territorial autonomy, and only then will negotiate over special accommodations and a potential limited, “technical” international role in guaranteeing them, Ahmadzada said. 

“The rejection of international involvement is more of a bargaining chip in the negotiations. It seems that the main calculation is to set the bar too high so there is a space left for maneuvering and backpedaling in the later stages,” Ahmadzada said. He nevertheless characterized the Palestine and Croatia examples as “optimistic” outcomes. “Although I still don't believe this is the [Azerbaijani] calculation, the risk of an all-out exodus is real.”

Tellingly, Azerbaijani readouts of the Brussels meeting ignored the question of the Karabakh Armenians’ rights and security, instead highlighting progress made on other issues like Armenian acknowledgment of Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh, transportation networks, and border delimitation. 

But since then there have been efforts from Baku to circumscribe the significance of Michel’s reference to the international community’s involvement, underscoring the sensitivity of the issue.

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement on May 15 taking issue with comments made by the EU ambassador to Armenia on Michel’s statement; the ambassador reportedly went a step further than had the European Council president and said that "the rights and security of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh must be ensured" and for this purpose, an "international mechanism" must be created. (Eurasianet could not independently verify that those were the ambassador’s words.)

The foreign ministry statement said the ambassador’s comments amounted to “an attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of Azerbaijan” and were “unacceptable.” 

“Azerbaijan's efforts to establish a dialogue with the Armenian residents in the aforementioned direction must not be hindered, prejudices against our territorial integrity and sovereignty must be ceased,” the statement said. 

An article in the website Caliber.az, associated with Azerbaijan’s defense ministry, took issue with the common interpretation of Michel’s mention of the “international community” and parsed the sentence to argue that it in fact limited the international involvement to the development of the positive agenda, not to the guarantee of Armenians’ rights and security.

The question of the rights and security of Karabakh Armenians “remains the outstanding, the most important, and the most problematic issue between the sides,” said Tigran Grigoryan, the head of the Yerevan think tank Regional Center for Democracy and Security, in an interview with Civilnet following the Brussels meeting. “This is a clear red line for both sides. Armenia cannot sign any kind of peace treaty while there is no agreement on the creation of this international mechanism of talks between Baku and Stepanakert, and Baku can not accept international involvement because that would nullify all of its postwar narratives,” i.e. that the conflict is resolved and any Karabakh issues are purely domestic.

“The mediators will try to bridge the differences but I’m not too optimistic about that, I don’t think that a solution will be found and it is more likely that Azerbaijan will resort to the use of force again to impose solutions on Armenia,” Grigoryan said. 

Pashinyan, Aliyev, and Michel are slated to meet again in Chisinau on June 1, along with the leaders of France and Germany. Michel also said that he and the Caucasus leaders were planning to meet again in Brussels in July.

Joshua Kucera, a senior correspondent, is Eurasianet's former Turkey/Caucasus editor and has written for the site since 2007.

https://eurasianet.org/as-armenia-azerbaijan-diplomacy-advances-a-solution-to-karabakh-remains-elusive 

Armenia cannot afford to be sanctioned over cooperation with Russia – PM Pashinyan

Emil Lazarian
May 17 2023

The Head of the Armenian Government, Nikol Pashinyan, said his country could not afford to fall under international sanctions due to its cooperation with the Russian Federation.

He said this in an interview with the Czech publication Respekt, Ukrinform reports with reference to Armenpress.

Pashinyan has noted that Armenia tries to be as transparent as possible as regards sanctioned goods. "We cooperate with the EU, U.S., and even with Russia itself," he said.

Pashinyan added that, after sanctions were imposed on Russia over the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, new logistics routes were created for many goods, including through the territory of Armenia.

Read also: Fighting resumes on border of Azerbaijan and Armenia

"Wherever there is an opportunity, we are happy to meet Russia’s demand. Sanctions are our ‘red line.’ And we say this very clearly to Russia: we do not want to harm you but we cannot afford to fall under sanctions ourselves," said Pashinyan.

As reported earlier, Armenia’s ruling party has neither the desire nor the intention to detain the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, should he arrive in the country, despite the fact that the Constitutional Court recognized the obligations established by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court as consistent with the country's constitution.

 

LA Names Intersection ‘Republic of Artsakh Square’

Samvel Nahapetian
May 17 2023
By Leslie Berestein Rojas

Topline:

On Tuesday the Los Angeles City Council voted to name the West L.A. intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Granville Avenue "Republic of Artsakh Square," in honor of an embattled region thousands of miles away that’s important to L.A.'s large Armenian community.

Sending a message: According to City Council President Paul Krekorian's office, the intersection was chosen because it's where Azerbaijan's Los Angeles consulate is located. Since December, a blockade by Azerbaijan of the only road connecting the region with neighboring Armenia has led to food shortages and other difficulties for people there.

“Azerbaijan's dictator has explicitly threatened genocide and called for the expulsion of all Armenians from territories he claims, once again threatening the annihilation of the Armenian people in their ancient homeland,” Krekorian said in an emailed statement. “We have taken this action to affirm the solidarity of the people of Los Angeles with the people of Artsakh.”

The backstory: Artsakh is what Armenians call the Nagorno-Karabakh region, a contested area that belongs to Azerbaijan but is 95% ethnically Armenian. The self-declared Republic of Artsakh has its own government, although it’s not recognized by any U.N. member nation. Azerbaijan and Armenia have fought two wars over the territory, the most recent in 2020. Conflict escalated again in recent months.

Armenia Considers Leaving CSTO Alliance Because russia Doesn’t Supply Already Paid Weapons

Karapet Navasardian
May 15 2023
Defense Express

Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan warned that his country may leave the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) if russia cannot adhere to its obligations.

In particular, the Kremlin doesn't send weapons that were not only ordered but also prepaid by Yerevan. Furthermore, Moscow didn't guarantee Armenia's safety during the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War in 2020, the official stressed.

"Over the last years, the security architecture in the world and in our region particularly has changed drastically. … Obligations based on agreements are working no more. Our whole security concept was built around that idea, and a new one is not there yet," Armen Grigoryan said in an interview to Novaya Gazeta Europe.

Answering the question about defense contracts, he revealed that it's not only the 2021 deal "worth millions of dollars" that was thwarted by russian side, there were other contracts as well. Worth expanding, here Grigoryan talks about a series of classified contracts Armenia signed with russia during the Armiya-2021 defense forum in Moscow.

In contrast, during the 2010–2020 period, Armenia received 94% of the weapons pledged by the russian federation. In this context, we say "received" rather than "bought" because the Kremlin handed this military equipment on very generous terms, either donated as military aid for good, or on credit. The total amount of military goods received by Armenia is estimated at USD 5 billion, it included such assets as Iskander short-range missile systems, S-300 long-range and Tor short-range air defense systems, and Su-30 fighters.

When asked straightforwardly, whether Yerevan ever considered quitting the CSTO, the official confirmed "there were talks about it, it's a natural reaction."

Although generally speaking, this interview can be interpreted as just a signal by Yerevan to Moscow rather than a commitment. And the signal is very simple: if the Kremlin keeps holding the promised weapons and doing nothing to ensure Armenia's safety, the latter will find a new partner.

But whether someone in Moscow actually cares about Armenia and its problems in the current situation is another question. A question that starts bothering not Armenia alone but also the Middle Asia countries belonging to the CSTO and depending on russian defense industry.

 

Moscow urges Yerevan, Baku to refrain from any moves leading to escalation — MFA

Mike Maghakian
 TASS 
Russia – May 17 2023
It is Russia’s position that all disputes should be resolved politically and diplomatically

MOSCOW, May 17. /TASS/. Now that the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border has stabilized, Moscow urges the sides to refrain from any actions that could lead to an escalation of tension, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a briefing on Wednesday.

"Regretfully, there were ceasefire violations from both sides on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border on May 11-12," the spokeswoman said. "The situation has now stabilized. We call on the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides to refrain from provocative actions and from escalating tension," Zakharova said.

It is Russia’s position that all disputes should be resolved politically and diplomatically, the spokeswoman added. "We intend to facilitate this in every possible way, including during the trilateral meeting [of the foreign ministers of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan] scheduled for May 19 in Moscow," the diplomat added.

Armenia would have secured a more stable situation with CSTO observers’ mission — Lavrov

Raffi Khondkarian
 TASS 
Russia – May 17 2023
According to Russia’s top diplomat, the document was fully approved at the foreign ministers’ level

MOSCOW, May 17. /TASS/. Yerevan would have secured a more stable situation if it signed a document on deploying an observers’ mission of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the Tsargrad television channel posted on the Foreign Ministry’s website on Wednesday.

"A document on the deployment of a CSTO mission of observers on Armenian territory in accordance with the request of our Armenian allies was drafted for the CSTO summit in Yerevan in the autumn of 2022," Russia’s top diplomat pointed out.

"I am convinced that if Yerevan confirmed what had already been endorsed and if this document were ready for signing and entry in force, Armenia would have secured and had a more stable situation," Lavrov stressed.

The document was fully approved at the foreign ministers’ level, he added.

"However, our Armenian friends asked us to postpone adoption at the last moment at the summit. This document is still on paper and cannot be implemented," the Russian foreign minister said.