Category: 2022

ArmInfo.The 44-day-war in the South Caucasus disturbed the politico-military and geopolitical balance. And a new politico-military balance that would ensure long-  lasting peace in the region will take a considerable amount of time  to form, Ambassador Arman Melikyan said in an interview with ArmInfo. 

“The present geopolitical situation does not allow either the  Armenian or the Azerbaijani leaders to ignore the geopolitical  situation in our region and in the neighboring ones even during the  next six months. Under the circumstances, any document Yerevan and  Baku would sign here and now will not secure the signatories against  possible – and even expected – geopolitical shocks in and round our  region,” Mr Melikyan said.  

Amid the ongoing geopolitical transformations, signing any interstate  document supposed to “legally cement” the Armenian-Azerbaijani  relations in terms of their level and content is pointless. On the  other hand, the negotiations amid the region’s geopolitical  reconfiguration are, beyond doubt, a deterrent to possible use of  force.   

Even if Armenia and Azerbaijan sign a peace treaty in the foreseeable  future, such a treaty should not be expected to contain special  points on Artsakh. And given the fact that Azerbaijan’s legislation  does not contain a point on a territorial unit named  Nagorno-Karabakh, Baku can at best guarantee the rights of the  Artsakh Armenians.  

“My greatest concern is that Armenia’s incumbent authorities are  lacking experience and knowledge necessary to manage such complicated  processes. In this context, I think that the prospects of Russian  military presence in Artsakh will depend on the presence of the  Armenian population that needs protection rather than on an  Armenian-Azerbaijani peace agreement,” Mr Melikyan said.

ArmInfo.Baku reacted to the statements of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan about the prisoners of war.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said that they consider the  accusations voiced by Pashinyan during his visit to the Netherlands  “unfounded and calling into question the sincerity of Yerevan in the  issue of normalizing relations with Baku and achieving peace in the  region.”

“The baseless accusations made by the Prime Minister of Armenia  against Azerbaijan, including far from reality claims on humanitarian  issues, show that the Armenian leadership is not at all sincere in  the issue of normalizing relations between the two countries.  Providing maps of minefields by Armenia is not a “humanitarian  gesture”, it is was Yerevan’s commitment in the framework of the  tripartite statement dated November 10, 2020. After the signing of  this document, 219 people became victims of mines in Azerbaijan, and  these are mostly civilians, said Abdullayeva. As for the accusations  of not returning the detained Armenians, Baku considers them  saboteurs, sent to the territory of Azerbaijan after the end of the  war. Unfounded accusations against Azerbaijan cast doubt on Armenia’s  readiness to act in the name of peace,” said Leyla Abdullayeva,  spokeswoman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.

Thus, from the logic of Abdullayeva, it turns out that only Yerevan  has obligations under the agreement, and they are not obligatory for  Baku. It is also worth noting that in the tripartite statement there  is not a word about the transfer of maps of minefields, however,  paragraph 8 of the statement of November 9, 2020 states the need for  an exchange of prisoners of war and detainees on the principle of  “all for all”.

It should be noted that on May 11 in the Netherlands, Pashinyan  touched upon the issue of the return of Armenian prisoners held by  Baku. He expressed regret that, despite the statement of November 9,  2020, in response to the calls of many international organizations,  the citizens of the Republic of Armenia, taken prisoner during the  44-day war, have not yet been returned. “This is the practice of  using people for political purposes and turning them into an object  of trade, which is very reprehensible,” Nikol Pashinyan said,  stressing that it was in order to avoid such bargaining that he once  decided to transfer to Azerbaijan all the maps of minefields at his  disposal. The Armenian side hoped that this humanitarian step would  be followed by another humanitarian step.  “Nevertheless, today at  least 38 of our prisoners of war remain in Azerbaijan (according to  unofficial data, there are many more – ed. note). Attempts are  constantly being made to make this process the subject of bidding on  a variety of topics. By the way, for the last time in the presence of  the President of the European Council, the President of Azerbaijan  promised to release another group of prisoners, but this has not  happened yet. I think it is impossible to talk about peace, ignoring  the humanitarian side of the issue, we have shown this in practice,”  Nikol Pashinyan said. 

ArmInfo.Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia Jeyhun Bayramov, Ararat Mirzoyan and Sergey Lavrov discussed issues related to the implementation of  tripartite statements on Karabakh and the normalization of relations  between Baku and Yerevan on the sidelines of the CIS Foreign  Ministers Council in Dushanbe on May 12. This was reported by the  press service of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, TASS reports.

“At the meeting, the parties discussed the current situation in the  region and issues related to the implementation of tripartite  statements,” the report says. According to the source, an exchange of  views on issues related to “the normalization of relations between  Azerbaijan and Armenia, including the start of the process of  delimitation of the state border, the opening of all transport and  communication lines, and the negotiation of a peace treaty between  the two countries” took place. “The parties stressed the importance  of fulfilling the agreements reached for ensuring peace and security  in the region,” the statement says.  According to TASS, at the  beginning of the meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov  thanked his colleagues from Azerbaijan and Armenia for responding to  the Russian side’s proposal “to take the opportunity of the  participation of the CIS Foreign Ministers to hold a trilateral  meeting, which will allow the parties to continue joint work to  monitor the implementation of tripartite statements “, which were  previously accepted at the highest level. “We are interested in  turning the South Caucasus into a zone of peace, sustainable  development and prosperity,” the head of the Russian diplomatic  department said, adding that it is important for Moscow to increase  trust between the parties while creating conditions for the full  normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations. “I hope that today’s  meeting will make it possible to move forward along the path that was  outlined by our leaders,” Lavrov said.

In turn, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Bayramov stressed in his  opening speech that this meeting “is a good opportunity to discuss  the progress that can be achieved.” At the same time, he expressed  regret due to the fact that so far there are no proper improvements  in the work on opening transport communications in the region. “I  know that contacts between our partners continue. And we believe that  there is a good prospect, a good opportunity to achieve results and  achieve full implementation of tripartite statements,” he said. “I  believe that there are good developments, understanding in terms of  the composition and representativeness of the parties in the  commission on delimitation issues, and I also believe that in the  near future it will be possible, at least, to launch this process.”  Bayramov noted that Baku, for its part, “is ready to begin work on a  peace treaty,” and the meeting of ministers and the preservation of  contacts between the parties “will have a positive impact on the  continuation of the discussion on this topic.” 

Armenian Foreign Minister Mirzoyan stressed that Yerevan has been and  remains committed to the implementation of all agreements and  statements between the leaders of the three countries. “We are ready  to continue all work on the current formats: on opening  communications of economic infrastructures in the region, and on a  peace treaty, or, as it is probably more correct to call it, an  agreement on the normalization of relations, the establishment of  relations, and on the solution of all remaining problems, including  humanitarian ones, release of prisoners of war and other issues that  remain unresolved,” he said.

Earlier, Lavrov held separate meetings with partners from Azerbaijan  and Armenia.

ArmInfo.During a meeting of FMs of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan on May 12 in Dushanbe, RA Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan stressed the importance of a speedy  settlement of the humanitarian issues resulting from the 44-day war,  including the need for immediate repatriation of the Armenian  prisoners of war. The press service of the RA MFA reports.  

Thus, according to the source, “the process of implementation of the  commitments undertaken within the Trilateral Statements of November  9, 2020, January 11, 2021 and November 26, 2021 was discussed.

The sides exchanged views on the unblocking of regional  communications and economic ties, the establishment of the commission  on delimitation and border security, and the agreement on  normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.  Minister  Mirzoyan reaffirmed the position of the Armenian side on the  guarantee of security, rights and freedoms of the Armenians of  Artsakh, as well as on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh within the  framework of the comprehensive settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh  conflict.”