Category: 2022

ArmInfo.In order to avoid a potential big tragedy, Armenia should look carefully, step over its troubles and problems and negotiate directly with Azerbaijan. Former  Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov stated in an  interview on the Chibukhchyan Live youtube channel.

At the same time, he stressed that European democracy, as an  intermediary-guarantor is still better than the President of the  Russian Federation with his future imperial values as a guarantor.

At the same time, Avakov recalled the position of the Europeans  regarding the generally accepted borders of Nagorno-Karabakh, which,  according to the latter, should be part of Azerbaijan. ,  said the ex-head of the Ministry of  Internal Affairs of Ukraine.

In his opinion, the balance in such a situation can be maintained, if  French President Emmanuel Macron, France, the EU, and the USA are  chosen as a grenade. “And get out of this “prison of peoples”, which  is now being built again by Mr. Putin,” Avakov stressed.

At the same time, he expressed indignation at the deployment of  Russian border guards on the RA border.  Such, according to the  Ukrainian politician, should not be allowed. In this context, he  recalled Russia’s statements about the “fraternal Ukrainian people”,  which did not prevent the latter from destroying Ukrainian cities  today. Avakov did not rule out a similar scenario for Armenia.

The only advice that can be given to Armenia in such a difficult  situation is to go through difficult compromises by consensus. The  Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, according to the former  head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, must gather the  opposition forces, present the situation and by general consensus, by  all the people, choose and support some kind of decision. Only by  agreeing among themselves, according to Arsen Avakov, one can have a  strong position in the negotiation process.  “Moreover, there are few  places where you will find such lobbyism as that of the Armenians.  You have to use it correctly. This is very important,” he added.   According to Avakov, Armenia is able to resolve its issues in a  similar way. And after Ukraine coped with Russia, the former head of  the Ministry of Internal Affairs expressed the opinion that Armenia  should move to a completely different level of relations with  Ukraine, which would be quite promising. 

ArmInfo.The prospects for the effectiveness, and indeed the very suitability of the new format for the peaceful settlement of the Artsakh conflict, are rather vague.  Chairman of the Armenian Constructive Party, political scientist  Andrias Ghukasyan, expressed a similar opinion to ArmInfo.

“The main change in the negotiation process was the actual removal of  the Russian Federation from the activities of the OSCE Minsk Group.  It is clear that the work of the format of the Minsk Group co-chairs  in the conditions of Moscow’s violation of the UN Charter and the  Helsinki Final Act became impossible.  This brought the European  Union to the fore, creating an opportunity for forming a new  negotiating format.  Another question is that the 24-year stage of  discussion of the fundamental principles of the settlement within the  framework of the OSCE Minsk Group has also ended. That is, the  principles on the basis of which the conclusion of a comprehensive  peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan was supposed to be  concluded. And this happened as a result of the decision taken in  Brussels to begin work on the preparation of a peace treaty,” he  emphasized.

Meanwhile, according to the political scientist, from the latest  sensational speech of Prime Minister Pashinyan in parliament, it  becomes clear that these very fundamental principles of settlement by  the parties to the conflict are still not agreed upon. There is no  agreement around them, which makes it possible to forecast a very  difficult course of the expected negotiations. In Ghukasyan’s  opinion, this is evidenced by the different interpretations by  Yerevan and Baku of the Brussels wording on the inclusion of all  necessary issues in the peace treaty that is being prepared for  signing. Thus, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry hastened to declare  that the Artsakh settlement is outside the framework of the agreement  being prepared.  And Prime Minister Pashinyan outlined the  determination of the status of Artsakh as a condition necessary for  the signing of a peace treaty.

All this, according to the political scientist, outlines the fact of  the lack of agreement between the parties to the conflict around the  fundamental principles of the settlement, which creates very tangible  difficulties for the prospect of developing and approving the clauses  of the peace, making the possibility of a new format becoming a  platform for advancing the settlement even more uncertain. At the  same time, the importance of the EU’s role in resolving the current  geopolitical conditions and the international situation, in his  opinion, is indisputable.

“And finally, the last important circumstance is the  interconnectedness of the role of the EU in the settlement, the  course of the settlement with the cooperation of Armenia and  Azerbaijan with the EU.  The interconnection, that exists since the  adoption in 2011 by the European Parliament of the decision to  conclude an Association Agreement with Armenia and Azerbaijan. At the  same time, as one of the preconditions for concluding this agreement,  Brussels put forward the consent of Yerevan and Baku to the  implementation of the Madrid principles for the settlement of the  conflict around Artsakh. And as of today the European Commission  cannot ignore the logic of the decisions taken earlier by the  European Parliament. The latter means the absence of drastic changes  in the position of the EU on the settlement of the Artsakh conflict  that preceded the latest events,” Ghukasyan summed up. 

ArmInfo. At this stage, it seems possible to forecast that Moscow will try to maintain its own positions in the South Caucasus. In the conditions of it involvement  in the war in Ukraine, we cannot claim more. As for Brussels, it will  actively try to accelerate regional processes.

A similar opinion was expressed to ArmInfo by  chief researcher of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of  Sciences, orientalist Alexei Malashenko.

“It is clear that the completely new geopolitical situation in the  region is a challenge not only for Armenia and Azerbaijan, but for  all interested parties. And the most serious struggle will unfold not  even between the conflicting parties, but between global and, it is  important to emphasize, regional players. The problem with all this  news for Yerevan and Baku is that it will significantly complicate  their already difficult affairs and problems,” he stressed.

In this light, according to Malashenko, the West is quite consciously  refusing to have any relations with Russia in the South Caucasus,  making attempts to permanently remove it from the region. In his  opinion, Moscow, in turn, was initially ready for such a scenario as  a result of a geopolitical clash with the West on the territory of  Ukraine. In particular, attempts to further inflame the situation in  the South Caucasus were quite expected.

According to the orientalist, the task is set to weaken the Russian  position in this direction, in this particular case to strike at the  peacekeeping mission of the Russian Federation in Artsakh as much as  possible.  According to the expert’s forecasts, considering the issue  of Moscow’s diplomatic involvement in the settlement of problems  between Armenia and Azerbaijan closed, now the West will try to  destroy the military presence of the Russian Federation in the  region. The latter, in response, will undoubtedly operate within its  own rather extensive toolkit.  

“A longer-term forecast of the situation requires an answer to the  question of what Moscow thinks about the possibility of holding  separate talks on Karabakh in the presence of the Russian military  there. Which, in turn raises a difficult question for Baku and  Yerevan – how do they view, in fact, the discussion, of the same  issues of settlement in parallel with Moscow and Brussels in the  conditions of open rivalry for the status of a mediator. I believe  that this issue is a big challenge for Armenia and Azerbaijan. And we  see that the same Baku, which, following the results of the 44-day  war, refused to cooperate with the West on the Karabakh issue, has  already returned to the arms of Brussels. But neither Baku nor  Yerevan have the opportunity to refuse this to Moscow as well,”   summed up Malashenko. 

Pyunik celebrated 3-0 win over Alashkert in the 27th round of Armenian Championship.

Pyunik is in the lead with 57 points. Alashkert is in fourth place with 37 points.

Armenian Championship, 27th round

Pyunik vs Alashkert 3-0

Firmino, 35, Ghazaryan, 55, Serges Deble, 65