"Events on the Lachin road show that it's impossible to drag out the peace agreement"
Political scientist Alexei Naumov on Caliber.Az

INTERVIEWS  22 December 2022 - 11:40

On December 20, the UN Security Council discussed the situation on the Khankendi-Lachin road, during which Azerbaijan expressed its concerns in connection with Armenia's deliberate, persistent violations of its commitments undertaken within the framework of the Trilateral Declaration of November 10, 2020. In turn, the representative of the Russian Federation noted that "the road is partially open."

"Russia counts on the restoration of transport communication in a short time. The Russian side is taking all measures to resolve the situation in the Lachin corridor at the level of the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Defence. As a result, it was possible to achieve a partial unblocking of traffic along the corridor. Parameters for Azerbaijani environmental experts to visit ore deposits in Karabakh are being coordinated," the Russian representative said, which caused dissatisfaction on the part of the Armenian side.

In particular, Chairman of the Armenian National Assembly Alain Simonyan negatively evaluated the statement of the Russian representative in the UN Security Council regarding the situation on the Lachin road. "The allied country should have given much more accurate assessments of the situation," Simonyan said. According to him, Russia either cannot or does not want to be more direct and specific in its assessments.

"In any case, I am not surprised, recent events have shown that Russia may react to the situation in this way. It is possible that this is due to the fact that Russian peacekeepers are responsible for the situation, and in this way, they are trying to reduce their responsibility," said Simonyan.

To find out exactly what reaction the Armenian politicians expected from Russia, Caliber.Az talked to the expert of the Russian Council on International Affairs, political scientist Alexei Naumov, who noted that today the Armenian side, having exhausted the possibilities for further diplomatic moves and some games, is trying to shift responsibility for its inertness to Russia.

"We remember very well how the current episode of confrontation began. It all started when the Armenians living in Karabakh, led by Ruben Vardanyan, despite the agreement reached with the leadership of the peacekeepers at the meeting in Khojaly, did not allow representatives of the Azerbaijani side to monitor the Gizilbulag and Demirli deposits. And, accordingly, then they got what they got. It is obvious that now Armenia needs to make concessions and fulfill the conditions of the Trilateral Statement of November 10, 2020, and it is necessary to move from words to specific actions. The Armenian side, since 1994 and up to now, i.e. during 30 years, has been very well practiced in delaying processes and in shifting responsibility. Today we see that they do not want to do what they ought to, that's why they are trying to shift the responsibility on Russia, on the peacekeepers and international community", he said.

Naumov also stressed that during the session of the UN Security Council, representatives of several countries criticized Azerbaijan, but no one mentioned the failure of the Armenian side to fulfill the conditions of the agreements.

"Armenians lash out at the peacekeepers instead of seeking constructive ways of conflict resolution and making the necessary concessions. Because there is nobody to criticize, everyone who can be criticized has been criticized more than once. This way or the other, as long as Armenia under the leadership of Nikol Pashinyan pursues a policy of delaying a peace agreement, we will witness similar situations. I think this is not good for anyone's well-being.

We cannot expect peacekeepers to take arms now and make everyone comply with the agreements reached. Unfortunately, peacekeepers have a different function. We can only hope that realizing the inadmissibility of such behavior, the Armenian side will make every effort to resolve the situation, end the conflict and sign a peace agreement. In fact, what is happening today on the Lachin road is a reminder that further delay is unacceptable," Naumov concluded.

Caliber.Az