Armenian expert criticises Pashinyan’s interpretation of trilateral statement on border troops

Armenian political scientist Suren Surenyants has criticised Pashinyan's interpretation of the November 9 Trilateral Statement, which brought an end to hostilities in Karabakh.

“The wording written in the 9th paragraph of the November 9 document does not mean that the Russian FSB forces should be present on the road linking Azerbaijan with Nakhchivan. The presence of Russian border troops in Armenia is a matter for Armenia to decide. If tomorrow Armenia decides that they should not be present, they will not be present,” Nikol Pashinyan said.

“I will touch upon the same topic again, because Pashinyan provides innumerable occasions for this,” Surenyants said, Caliber.Az reports, citing Armenian media.

“In international relations, everything is decided by the balance of power and specific interests,”

It is absolutely irrelevant how you present the content of the 9th point of the Trilateral Statement, if you can't oblige your representations to the signatories of this statement to the other two parties or pursue such a policy that the interests of at least one of them correspond to your representations, your agenda.

I understand the impasse in which Pashinyan finds himself. He cannot withdraw his signature from the text of the 9 November statement because he has not signed any document that would be equivalent to a ceasefire, neither in Western platforms nor in bilateral negotiations.

So, if Pashinyan withdraws his signature from the 9 November document, it can be considered casus belli.

But casus belli can also be considered if Pashinyan's submissions are considered manipulation in Moscow and Baku. The reactions of the Azerbaijani and Russian Foreign Ministries suggest just that.

And so, what is the solution?

“It is necessary to go to negotiations, first of all with Russia, through it with Azerbaijan, so that in the issue of unblocking communications, solutions are found that would carry fewer risks for Armenia's sovereignty and would not jeopardise the territorial integrity of our country,” writes an Armenian political scientist.