Mikael Minasian Claims New Document Formulated Between Armenia and Azerbaijan

The former Armenian ambassador to the Vatican and son-in-law of the third Armenian president, Serge Sargsyan, Mikael Minasian asserts that the work on formulating a new declaration to be signed between Armenia and Azerbaijan was completed last night. Minasian made this announcement on his Facebook page, noting that the declaration will be published soon.

“This document diplomatically and elegantly formulates a new demarcation with catastrophic consequences for Armenia. With this declaration and its accompanying secret annex, a commission will be established to formalize the rules of the game for the new and final demarcation between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” stated Minasian in his post.

According to Minasian, the demarcation will be based on three principles: Soviet Union maps, geographical expediency, and the existing real picture at that time. As a consequence, he claims that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has made the five villages in Tavush province and one village in Ararat province subjects of discussion for ceding to Azerbaijan.

Minasian further states that the documents regulating the work of the new and final demarcation are to be prepared and pre-signed by June 30. “At this moment, Nikol has given his agreement to the aforementioned with three requests: before the elections, Azerbaijan withdraws its troops from Armenian territory, returns at least a few captives, and that the area of the five Tavush villages is framed in blurred terms to manage the situation until the elections are over,” Minasian wrote.

He also reports that back at the beginning of the year, caretaker Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan made promises to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev that no one is aware of. Specifically, in January, in Moscow, under the presence of the Russian president, Pashinyan promised Aliyev that he would urgently implement the complete and final demarcation of the Armenia-Azerbaijan borders at the beginning of spring, after the snow melts. However, just a week before the intrusion of Azerbaijani forces into Armenia's sovereign territory, Pashinyan attempted to alter the terms of the agreement, stating that when he made his promises, he did not know there would be elections.

After all this, according to Minasian, a new statement is to be adopted between the parties.