Radar Armenia‘s interlocutor is Shahan Gantaharyan, an international scholar.
– The Pashinyan-Aliev-Putin meeting, which lasted 20 minutes, ended in Moscow. An agreement was reached to continue the negotiations next week at the level of deputy prime ministers. What are your impressions of the Moscow meeting?
– Long or short meetings can open the door to comments. The news, for example, focused on the length of the Washington negotiations. So far, they are taking about 20 minutes. But in both cases, there is apparent competition for guarantee and moderation. I do not expect any breakthrough results. Parallel negotiations are going on. The spotlights focused on the implementation of point 9 of the November 9 agreement, and here it is clear that there are conflicting approaches.
– Putin stated that Azerbaijan assures that it unconditionally recognizes the full sovereignty of Armenia, and any other comments related to the unblocking of transport links have no basis. What is this talking about?
– This statement needs to be clarified. If Azerbaijan accepts the territorial integrity of Armenia, then why does it raise the “corridor” issue? Or there is no hint of leaving the occupied territories. I don’t think the problem relates to the terminology “corridor-intersection.” The case concerns territorial supremacy and extra-territorial division and, of course, leaving the occupied territories.
– According to the Russian President, Russia has never changed its position regarding the Lachin Corridor. He noted that in discussions with the parties, they were faithful to their position by the spirit and letter of the tripartite declaration. In that case, the question arises: why is the Lachin corridor not opened?
– Moscow adheres to the November and its derivative tripartite agreements. This is a legal barrier to the penetration of the West and implementing the task of conducting parallel negotiations. On the other hand, your observation as to why the Lachin Corridor remains closed is correct. More specifically, an Azerbaijani checkpoint has been installed, which was not included in the November agreement. It is exclusively a territory of Russian control. This is a pressure measure to speed up the Nakhichevan-Azerbaijan connection or de-blockade. And here they are trying to advance the “checkpoint for checkpoint” formula. This is already a severe violation of tripartite agreements.
– Nikol Pashinyan publicly announced that there would be no corridor through the territory of Armenia. What political consequences can this statement have?
– We are discussing the November agreement, where the corridor needs to be mentioned. Azerbaijan, recognizing the integrity of Armenia, keeping the troops in the sovereign territories of Armenia, and proposing a gallery, is torpedoing the existing and future agreements. The November agreement needs to be respected. This may open the door to submitting consent projects in other formats and with additional guarantees.
– How will the collective West perceive Aliyev’s presence at the EAEU supreme session?
– It is Moscow’s behavior of maintaining neutrality between the parties to maintain the status of an acceptable guarantor and mediator. And this, in turn, tends to inhibit the guarantee and involvement of the West.
