RFE/RL Armenian Service – 09/08/2023

                                        Friday, September 8, 2023
Moscow Summons Armenian Envoy Over ‘Unfriendly’ Moves
Russia - A view of the the building of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Moscow, 
January 13, 2019.:
The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Armenia’s ambassador on Friday to protest 
against what it described as “a series of unfriendly steps” taken by Yerevan 
against Moscow in recent days.
The ministry listed the Armenian government’s decision to host a joint 
U.S.-Armenian military exercise, this week’s visit to Ukraine by Prime Minister 
Nikol Pashinian’s wife and the Armenian parliament’s anticipated ratification of 
the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court, which issued an arrest 
warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin early this year.
In a statement, it said Ambassador Vagharshak Harutiunian heard a “tough 
presentation” regarding these moves. He was also handed a note of protest 
against Armenian parliament speaker Alen Simonian’s “offensive remarks” 
addressed to Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Zakharova poured scorn on Pashinian on Monday after he declared that he wants to 
“diversify our security policy” because he believes Armenia’s military alliance 
with Russia has been a “strategic mistake.” Zakharova went on to decry 
Simonian’s “boorish” criticism of Russian peacekeepers stationed in 
Nagorno-Karabakh.
“I’m not going to respond to some female secretary,” Simonian shot back the 
following day. “It’s not my level.”
Russian-Armenian relations have significantly deteriorated over the past year, 
with Armenian leaders increasingly complaining about what they see as a lack of 
Russian support for Armenia in the conflict with Azerbaijan. The rift between 
Moscow and Yerevan has stoked speculation about a pro-Western shift in Armenia’s 
traditional geopolitical orientation.
Some of Pashinian’s political allies as well as Western-funded civic groups have 
welcomed such a prospect. By contrast, Armenia’s main opposition groups are 
seriously concerned about it, arguing that the West is not ready to give Armenia 
security guarantees or military aid.
The Foreign Ministry in Moscow insisted on Friday that Russia and Armenia 
“remain allies.”
Azerbaijan Blasts Armenia Amid War Talk
Azerbaijan - Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and presidential aide Hikmet 
Hajiyev meet with foreign diplomats, Baku, September 13, 2022.
Azerbaijan accused Armenia of “imitating” peace talks and continuing to foment 
“separatism” in Nagorno-Karabakh on Friday following Armenian claims that it is 
planning another war in the conflict zone.
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and two top aides to President 
Ilham Aliyev made the accusations during an extraordinary meeting with 
Baku-based ambassadors of foreign states.
An Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry statement cited them as saying that Yerevan is 
not honoring Armenian-Azerbaijani agreements reached after the 2020 war in 
Karabakh.
“Armenia's goal is to sustain separatism in the territory of Azerbaijan with all 
possible ideological, political, military, financial and other means. In this 
way, Armenia is trying to gain time and avoid real steps that can ensure 
progress in all areas of negotiations,” they said, according to the statement.
The Azerbaijani officials also alleged that the Armenian side has stepped up 
“military provocations.” They went on to condemn as “extremely provocative” the 
election of Karabakh’s new president by local lawmakers scheduled for Saturday.
The Armenian government said earlier this week that Azerbaijan has been massing 
troops along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the Karabakh “line of contact” 
in possible preparation for offensive military operations. Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian urged the international community to take “very serious measures” to 
thwart Baku’s alleged plans.
Officials from the Armenian Defense Ministry on Friday again met with 
Yerevan-based foreign military attaches to brief them on the situation along the 
volatile border. According to a ministry statement, they said the situation 
remains “tense” because of the Azerbaijani military buildup. Armenian army units 
are therefore “continuing to take necessary actions to stabilize it and prevent 
provocations,” added the statement.
Karabakh’s army said on Tuesday that “large numbers” of Azerbaijani soldiers and 
military hardware are massing at various sections of the line of contact. It 
released purported videos of the troop movements. The Azerbaijani Defense 
Ministry said afterwards that its troops are simply engaging in routine training.
Pro-Russian Blogger, Journalist Detained In Armenia
        • Ruzanna Stepanian
Armenia- Journalist Ashot Gevorgian (left) and blogger Mika Badalian.
An Armenian journalist working for the Russian news agency Sputnik and a 
pro-Russian blogger are among seven persons arrested in Armenia on suspicion of 
illegal arms possession and trafficking.
Law-enforcement authorities have so far given few details of criminal 
proceedings that led to the arrests made in southeastern Syunik province on 
Wednesday and Thursday. According to them, the National Security Service (NSS) 
launched the investigation on August 24.
Another law-enforcement agency, the Investigative Committee, said on Friday that 
two of the suspects were detained while trafficking an assault rifle, multiple 
pistols, hand grenades and ammunition provided by an unnamed resident of a 
Syunik village close to the Azerbaijani border. A committee spokesman refused to 
elaborate.
A lawyer representing Sputnik journalist Ashot Gevorgian and blogger Mika 
Badalian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that the weapons were found in 
Gevorgian’s car. Liana Grigorian insisted, however, that the two men “have 
nothing to do” with them and that the arrests were the result of a 
“misunderstanding.”
The lawyer also said that Gevorgian and Badalian, who is an outspoken critic of 
the Armenian government, travelled to Syunik on assignment on Wednesday and were 
taken into custody hours later.
None of the seven suspects was formally charged as of Friday afternoon. Under 
Armenian law, the investigators must indict or free them within 72 hours after 
their detention.
The Russian Embassy in Yerevan expressed concern at the arrests of Gevorgian and 
Badalian. “We will take steps to clarify the circumstances of what happened,” it 
said in a statement.
The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, was also concerned, 
saying that the arrests may be a “provocation by those who go out of their way 
to ruin relations between the two countries.”
“The West has invested a lot of money in that,” Zakharova wrote on Telegram late 
on Thursday. “Forces seeking that have clearly become more active lately.”
The Russian-Armenian relationship has steadily deteriorated since the 2020 war 
in Nagorno-Karabakh. Tensions between the two allied states rose this week after 
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian called Armenia’s reliance on Russia for defense a 
“strategic mistake” and his government decided to host a U.S.-Armenian military 
exercise.
Top U.S. Diplomat Phones Armenian, Azeri FMs
Albania - U.S Ambassador to Albania Yuri Kim speaks during the inauguration of a 
memorial in Tirana,, July 9, 2020
A senior U.S. State Department official called on Friday for the simultaneous 
opening of the Lachin corridor and “other routes” for humanitarian supplies to 
Nagorno-Karabakh in phone calls with the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign 
ministers.
Yuri Kim, the acting assistant secretary of state for Europe and Eurasia, 
reiterated Washington’s “serious concerns over the humanitarian situation in 
Nagorno-Karabakh” when she spoke to Armenia’s Ararat Mirzoyan early in the 
morning.
“We urge all sides to work together now to immediately and simultaneously open 
Lachin and other routes to get desperately needed humanitarian supplies into 
Nagorno-Karabakh,” she wrote in a post on the social media platform X, formerly 
known as Twitter.
Kim made the same point during her separate phone call with Azerbaijani Foreign 
Minister Jeyhun Bayramov. She described their conversation as “constructive.”
According to an Azerbaijani readout of the call, Bayramov denied the 
humanitarian crisis in Karabakh, saying that Baku has not been blocking the 
Armenian-populated region’s land link with Armenia and the outside world. He 
dismissed international calls for the unblocking of the Lachin corridor as 
“interference in our country’s internal affairs.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev 
again discussed the situation in Karabakh in a September 1 call revealed by the 
U.S. State Department five days later. The department said Blinken insisted on 
the need for renewed traffic through the Lachin corridor “while recognizing the 
importance of additional routes from Azerbaijan.”
Despite struggling with severe shortages of food, medicine and other basic 
necessities, most residents of Karabakh remain strongly opposed to the 
alternative supply line sought by Baku. They believe that it is aimed at 
legitimizing the blockade and helping Azerbaijan regain full control over 
Karabakh.
Armenia’s position on the compromise solution favored by the United States as 
well as the European Union is not clear.
The official statements on Kim’s phone talks with Mirzoyan and Bayramov did not 
say whether she also discussed mounting tensions along the Armenian-Azerbaijani 
border and the Karabakh “line of contact.” Armenian officials say that 
Azerbaijan has been massing troops there in possible preparation for offensive 
military operations.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Thursday urged the international community to 
take “very serious measures” to thwart Baku’s alleged plans. The Azerbaijani 
Foreign Ministry dismissed Pashinian’s appeal and said that Yerevan should end 
its “military-political provocations.”
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