Author: Eduard Nalbandian

You cannot solve problems during geopolitical clashes and rumblings, because everyone’s interests are different, and you become a geopolitical “night butterfly,” a bargaining chip. Nikol Pashinyan does just that. There are upheavals all over the world. How do you want to build a house of peace in the conditions of such upheavals? How is peace possible in one region, if there are bloody geopolitical wars in other regions of the world? Armen Ashotyan, vice chairman of the Republican Party of Armenia, told NEWS.am.

He noted that there is no talk of peace in any region of the world, the situation has aggravated even in Bosnia, Serbia, Uzbekistan and other places.

“What kind of person should be immoral, so that in the conditions of an earthquake and rumbling, not to run away from the place of disaster, but to build a house on this place?” added the politician.

He reminded that first the announcement of the meeting was about Moscow, then it was changed to Brussels. Yesterday Zakharova stated that the mediating role of the EU is determined by its geopolitical ambitions.

Ashotyan stated that the fact of such meetings becomes a part of the geopolitical collision agenda which cannot be in Armenia’s interest since the geopolitical collision in the region is to the detriment of Armenia.

The oppositionist reminded that when the Republican Party was in power, it managed to keep Armenia and the Artsakh issue away from confrontations. The relations between the West and Russia were tense even then, though not to the same extent as now.

“But you can remember the Russian-Georgian war, the tension after the Crimean events, and so on,” he concluded.

If Armenia expects anything from OSCE Minsk Group, it should show initiative and invite its co-chairs to Yerevan in this tense situation, journalist Suren Sargsyan said  today.

“The relations between OSCE Minsk Group co-chair states are tense, the latter are trying to accuse each other of failing to continue the Minsk Group activities. But we cannot get an answer to the most important question: what does the Armenian government want from the Minsk Group?” said Sargsyan.

He recalled that Azerbaijan opposes the activities of the OSCE Minsk Group. “Globally, it is not Aliyev who will decide what kind of co-chairmanship the Minsk Group should have. If relations between Russia, France and the U.S. are tense today, it doesn’t mean they won’t get better tomorrow. What is important here is the fact that yesterday the United States appointed a new co-chair. It means that the U.S. keeps insisting that the Minsk Group is the most appropriate format for the settlement of the conflict and there is no adequate response from Armenia,” the expert said.

Sarkisian stressed that in addition to the OSCE Minsk Group, there are other formats in the settlement of the Karabakh-Azerbaijan conflict. “The Brussels format supposes that representatives of Armenia and Azerbaijan meet and discuss the settlement of the problem and discuss the implementation of trilateral agreements of November 9 during the meetings in Moscow. The settlement of the problem is dealt with by Brussels, saying Brussels, we should also understand the US, France, as the co-chair countries of the Minsk Group, and on the other side – Russia. They say to Moscow: the document of November 9 was signed under your leadership and you lead this process till the end,” the expert said.

On Wednesday, the U.S. announced the appointment of Philip Reeker as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group and a senior adviser in the negotiations on the Caucasian issues. Baku reacted rather harshly, saying that attempts to “reanimate” the practically non-functioning Minsk Group could lead to the U.S. alienation from the process of normalization of Azerbaijani-Armenian relations. “The Karabakh conflict has been resolved, and Karabakh is an integral part of Azerbaijan,” said Leyla Abdullayeva, head of the Foreign Ministry’s press service department.

In response, a representative of the U.S. Department of State said today that by appointing Ricoeur, the United States of America wants to achieve a comprehensive Armenian-Azerbaijani peace.

After 44 days of war the negotiations between the presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs are in fact deadlocked. While Armenia speaks about the necessity of the settlement of the Karabakh conflict in the format of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship, Azerbaijani President Aliyev insists that such an issue no longer exists, thus sending the Minsk Group “into retirement”.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin in the city of Cholpon-Ata today as part of his working visit to Kyrgyzstan, where he took part in a meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council.

The Russian prime minister stated in his speech:

“We highly value our brotherly relations with Armenia, which are based on deep historical and spiritual ties between our peoples. On August 29th we will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Aid, which laid the foundation for the allied relations between Russia and Armenia.

Together with our Armenian partners we are taking prompt decisions aimed at protecting our trade and economic cooperation, including in conditions of illegal sanctions against Russia.

According to the results of the first 6 months of this year, the bilateral trade turnover increased by 42% compared to the same period in 2021. In absolute terms, it has reached $ 1 billion. 600 million dollars. It is a record figure. As for investments of Russian capital in Armenia, they reach $2 billion.

We want to speed up work on priority projects in transport, industry and energy. It is important to create comfortable conditions for business activities.

In this regard, the event to be held in Armenia in September with the participation of Russian companies will be a good platform.

We are also actively working to expand the use of national currencies in bilateral trade. I am confident that it will contribute to an increase in trade turnover and diversification of its structure. We give priority to the unblocking of economic and transport infrastructures in the South Caucasus, in accordance with the agreement of the leaders of Russia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.”

Pashinyan noted that “these meetings are important for us in the context of managing situations that, unfortunately, arise frequently.”

“Two days ago, in a telephone conversation with Vladimir Putin, we also stressed the importance of the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance. In April we celebrated the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

I am confident that despite all difficulties, together we will overcome situations that create problems for our economies and cooperation,” the Armenian Prime Minister added.