"Stop it. This all must be halted"

Public and political figure, former Prime Minister of Artsakh Ruben Vardanyan has given an interview to Artsakh Public Television. The latest meeting between Pashinyan, Aliyev, and Putin was held in Moscow. And? Ruben Vardanyan said, "It was clearly a complete failure. It was evident that, unfortunately, from the perspective of the interests of the people of Artsakh, everything was extremely negative."

When asked if he expected different statements in Moscow after the declarations heard in Brussels and Yerevan, Vardanyan responded, "Politics is such that statements can differ from actions. We have to look at how long the meeting lasted, what the press conference was like. For example, in the US, Blinken exited alone after a minute and a half, without the two ministers. Here, the meeting lasted 20 minutes. You follow what information is released, what is not released, what has happened, and what decisions have been published. Everything is clear: unfortunately, for yet another time, we have failed the negotiations."

Vardanyan also responded to the Prime Minister of Armenia's statement on May 22, which many consider to be the death knell for Artsakh. He said, "On one hand, he didn’t say anything new; such a statement had already been made once before, but on the other hand, he clearly recognized Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan—not as a possible option, but accepted it as a problem he does not consider. I have already stated several times that this is unacceptable for us and want to remind him of his own words: the issue of Artsakh must be determined by the citizens of Armenia, the citizens of Artsakh, and it must be accepted by the citizens of Azerbaijan. He has abandoned his promise, he has abandoned the statement he made when he first became Prime Minister and when he was elected in 2021. I say again that he should not decide; he has already stated that without the position of our people, our government, nothing can be signed."

When asked if actions were expected from the authorities of Artsakh, he noted, "Besides statements, actions are needed. It seems to me that this is the situation where the knife has reached the bone. There are people who are simply very ignorant, who say, 'So what, there are Armenians living in Artsakh, there are Armenians living in Glendale, there are Armenians living in Javakhk.' Those who say such things have no right to engage in political activity and do not understand that there is a big difference between the status of Armenians living in Georgia and those in Artsakh. In this regard, we need to take very clear and decisive steps to show that this will not be accepted, and there cannot be a decision that will be accepted by some ruling power in Armenia."

When asked about expectations from the authorities of Artsakh, Vardanyan said, "Both in Artsakh and in Armenia. If by any chance we lose Artsakh, we will lose Armenia. I have said this several times, probably after the 2020 war, I have expressed this 4-5 times in different places, always speaking out about this, and I have received a response from the ruling power that 'how can one say such a thing.' Yes, I said and will say that by losing Artsakh, we will lose Armenia."

Regarding what he expects from the authorities of Artsakh, if they announce that they will not accept any decision contrary to the will of the people of Artsakh, he stated, "Very simple—be prepared for that; there should be clear discussions with people about what the consequences will be because it is crucial that people correctly understand the repercussions. If we say we have a red line, but let it pass a little or it's just a statement but it's okay, let’s find a way—this is unacceptable. In politics, yes, it may be possible to try to diplomatically find solutions, but the moment comes where there is no turning back because if Artsakh is accepted as part of Azerbaijan, the consequences… I don’t want to voice them, but Aliyev already used different words yesterday. If you remember what he said — 'the citizens of Azerbaijan of Armenian descent.' And it’s not hard to predict what will happen in the coming months if we don’t stop this movement right now."

When asked if he sees options to stop this, he answered, "Yes—unity of the people and the government, that this will not be accepted by us, and rallying around that idea. This means we should not let it happen, and it must definitely be realized through actions."

Vardanyan mentioned his intentions to create a foundation for a program worth about 60 billion drams during a recent meeting held in Stepanakert. He elaborated, “I would like to remind that before the 2020 war and afterward, we invested tens of millions of dollars in various programs in Artsakh. By saying 'we' I mean the various projects carried out together with my friends; we have implemented about a hundred projects just around 'Aurora,' and we continued that. Last year, the agency 'We Are Our Mountains' established nearly a 2 billion dram program here. It’s very important to understand what the objective is. To unite people around an idea, create a roadmap. To understand what direction to work in. And most importantly, what human, financial resources you have, and other important resources for this reality. Now, we have crossed this path, established a goal, and confirmed that we are ready to unite around this goal, we are ready to undertake significant work. For that, resources are needed. And in this situation, we decided that serious money should be invested because we have very little time to change the reality. Despite all the problems in the world, a large amount of money has been declared to achieve this goal.”

When asked how realistic he finds the collection of such funds given the challenges around Artsakh, he stated, "We will try to do everything. I have said that my greatest pride is that the projects I undertook were collegial. My family has invested about 500 million dollars in various projects. Close to 1 billion dollars have been invested by other people. And I say this with great pride. It’s rare when a wealthy person, having the opportunities, works with others. We have implemented or participated in the implementation of about 700 projects. We have given scholarships to nearly a thousand students. We have helped hundreds of people if we deemed it necessary. The funds were allocated to professional managers, not individual people. I will do everything I can, with my friends. I am confident that we will succeed."

Responding to concerns about maintaining a political distance while gathering resources, Vardanyan remarked, "What kind of power are we talking about? We have the situation of Sardarapat; we have the last opportunity to protect our homeland. I clearly stated during the rally how we see the situation. If you see it the same way—the ruling power, the President, the National Assembly—let's decide what specific actions we should take in the situation of patriotic war. Specific, day by day. If you are not going to do that, we will do it without you; we want to protect our country. It is crucial that we have our state. We have been building the independent state system of Artsakh for 30 years. But unfortunately, it may turn out that the head of the state system is not prepared for this. It will only be his decision. But as leaders responsible for our homeland, we will take our actions. We will protect Artsakh regardless. It would be more correct and stronger if the entire state system and society did this together. If not, I am confident that thousands of people will go out to protect our country so that your and others’ children can live here. There is no other way. Now, the president is discussing various things, different scenarios; the President of the National Assembly is demanding his resignation. There are plays around certain individuals and positions. Stop it! All of this must be halted. We have a situation where Artsakh may not exist. And you want to sort out your personal relations. Of course, it is unacceptable to fight for positions in this situation. We are soldiers who must defend our homeland. If I have to be a soldier of a small community at this state, I will be a soldier of a small community, not saying that I won’t fight if I don’t get a position. There can be no other way.