This Led to the Capture of Shushi, Opening the Way to Stepanakert: Zakharova

Do you remember a song that had the line “My beloved, guess for yourself”? Frankly, I’m curious about which countries the Prime Minister of Armenia was talking about. We all need to figure it out ourselves, or will we be told later? This was stated by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, during a press briefing on May 23.

“It would be entirely logical to voice these concerns if we are talking about such serious statements. Let's leave this to official Yerevan,” she added.

Zakharova assured that Russia had done everything possible. “From the very beginning of the conflict in the autumn of 2020, Russia did everything to stop it. As President Putin said, ‘so that Armenia does not feel abandoned and forgotten.’ Literally from the very first days of the armed conflict in the autumn of 2020, the Russian side made the most active political and diplomatic efforts to achieve a ceasefire. Those who have forgotten can literally remember all relevant statements and press publications. Additionally, each step was accompanied by official comments, including through the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Let me remind you that there were numerous phone calls between the President of Russia and the Presidents of Azerbaijan and the Prime Minister of Armenia at that time. Following negotiations organized by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, a preliminary ceasefire was declared on October 10, 2020, between the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan. The possibility of signing a ceasefire agreement was already in October 2020. After that, the President of Russia convinced the President of Azerbaijan to stop the war, and he was ready to do so. But Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan insisted on continuing military operations. What did this lead to? This led to the capture of Shushi, which opened the way to Stepanakert. Everyone remembers this very well, and all of this is documented.

Thanks to the personal involvement of the President of Russia, it was possible to bring the parties to sign a trilateral statement on November 9, 2020. This statement declared a complete cessation of hostilities. These documents and trilateral agreements accepted during the development involving the leaders of the three countries, which were reached between 2021-2023, remain the only roadmap for a stable process of resolution of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations,” Zakharova noted.

Let us recall that on May 22, during a Q&A session with the government in parliament, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that he recognizes at least two countries of the CSTO that, in his assessment, participated in the preparation for the 44-day war against Armenia while simultaneously creating the illusion of wanting to help.