Russia Refuses Kocharian's Services: Arman Babajanyan

Member of Parliament Arman Babajanyan wrote on his Facebook page: “During an official visit to Armenia, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made an exceptionally significant statement regarding the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict at a press conference held in Yerevan today. In particular, responding to the question of returning Artsakh to the negotiating table, Lavrov stated, ‘I want to reiterate that the composition of the negotiation participants must be agreed upon by the parties. At the initial stage of the negotiations, when the military operations had just ceased, Nagorno-Karabakh was a participant in the negotiations. At some point, one of the Armenian presidents decided that the interests of Nagorno-Karabakh would be represented by Yerevan... As co-chairs, we can only add that the process has proceeded with mutual consent. Without the people of Nagorno-Karabakh and its population, it will be impossible to formulate any agreement. Armenia simply will not sign. We proceed from this... I want to note that during my meeting with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan today, he again emphasized that any decision should represent the interests of the people of Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Azerbaijan. It is hard to argue with this.’

Thus, at the level of Russia's Foreign Minister, it is essentially recorded for the first time that Nagorno-Karabakh has been part of the negotiation process. This practically means recognition of the subjectivity of Artsakh by Russia. Sergey Lavrov also diplomatically and subtly reminded without naming names that Nagorno-Karabakh was excluded from the negotiation process during the tenure of one of Armenia's former presidents. This, of course, refers to Robert Kocharian, who today is spending all his financial, informational-manipulative resources to create an image of a national and ‘thinker about Karabakh’ on one hand, while on the other, offering his services to Russia. In this sense, Lavrov's statement carries a political message and signifies that, metaphorically speaking, Russia is refusing Kocharian's services.

Nevertheless, Lavrov's statements in Yerevan are extremely important for the negotiation process concerning the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and our diplomacy must do everything to capitalize on these statements and at least turn them into a unified statement for the members of the OSCE Minsk Group format. Overall, Sergey Lavrov's visit to Armenia can be considered successful in terms of its impact on Armenian-Russian relations. At least, the public statements made have entirely dispelled the assessments stating that Armenian-Russian relations are in jeopardy or on the brink of destruction, which have been voiced mainly by representatives of the former authorities and their close circles. All the statements made by Lavrov in Yerevan indicated that Russia is working with Armenia in a completely normal mode, and that if there have been disagreements in the past, they have now been overcome.”