A Ridiculous Thing I Have Discovered: The Armenian Side Has Not Rejected Any Settlement Option Since 1998

In recent days, I have been reviewing the entire history of the settlement of the Artsakh conflict. I have discovered a ridiculous thing: the Armenian side, which won the first Artsakh war, has not rejected any settlement option at all since 1998. All proposed solutions (including a joint state, the Key West variant, Prague, Bucharest, Paris, Rambouillet, Kazan, etc.) have been based on the unconditional return of all seven territories without final clarification of the status of Artsakh.

In almost all proposed options, apart from the American Key West, the issues of the status of the Lachin corridor and the return of Kelbajar were left open-ended, as a result of an agreement reached after Armenia’s consent to the exchange of territories concerning the Meghri corridor. However, the return of the five regions was envisioned in the first phase of all proposals.

Why has the Armenian side always been in favor of Russian, French, or American proposals? There are two reasons: initially, it was confident that after the Armenian side’s consent, Baku would inevitably reject the offer, and second, more specifically during Serzh Sargsyan's tenure, when Armenia was not preparing for a long-term, large-scale war, but rather for a conflict lasting four to five days, believing that Russia would not allow a war in Artsakh, much less a prolonged conflict.

During this entire period, starting from 2010, Russia has been intensively arming Azerbaijan. After its defeat in 1994, Azerbaijan increased its regional significance every year, becoming a more reliable partner for Russia, the EU, and the USA. Simultaneously, it strengthened its rights on the diplomatic ground.

Armenia's foreign policy adopted since 1994 has changed not one centimeter. Moreover, since 1998, Armenia has directed its diplomatic efforts towards maintaining the status quo and ensuring that no new war is allowed, while for 25 years it has engaged in eroding the state’s subjectivity and sovereignty.

Throughout this entire period, instead of building a modern army and acquiring contemporary weaponry, our country’s military-political leadership has focused on plundering the military— the largest budgetary institution of the state— to enrich itself at the expense of soldier safety. At the same time, starting from 2000, it has incurred a debt of 100 million dollars, exchanging state assets such as HayRusGazard, railways, management of the nuclear power plant, and energy distribution for extending its stay in power, not to mention the political persecutions, murders, and events of March 1, October 27, and April 12, which could largely be endured thanks to Russian assistance and of course the strengthening of the status quo with Russian support.

After all this, Armenia experienced the 2018 revolution, resulting in what it had allegedly deemed undesirable powers, a war initiated in the desired timeframe with the involvement of Turkey due to new global challenges, which ended at the behest of the Turkish-Azerbaijani alliance and resulted in a defeated and crushed strategic ally Armenia, with whom one could act as they wished, including signing humiliating statements on the unblocking of regional communications, which had no relation to Armenia’s short and medium-term interests during these 25 years.