Armenian top leadership's behaviour damages region's stability Shifting the blame instead of reaching peace

Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan in an interview with Armenian television made another ridiculous statement in connection with the situation on the Lachin road.

He said that according to the Trilateral statement of November 9, 2020, "Lachin corridor belongs to the Russian Federation, where Russian peacekeepers stay, so the responsibility for all the events there lies with the Russian Federation. Moreover, the main demand of the Armenian side, addressed to Russia, was to ensure the "safety" of the mythical "120,000 Armenians of Karabakh".

It is clear that Grigoryan's verbiage is directly connected with the fact of the establishment of the checkpoint on the notional border with Armenia by Azerbaijan, as it was a real shock for our neighbours. Yerevan was also flabbergasted by Moscow's inaction since the Armenian side expected an extremely negative reaction from Russia but miscalculated. It has a logical explanation.

The position of the Russian side in this particular issue is objective, as Baku's actions are fully within the framework of the Trilateral Statement of November 10, 2020. That is, the installation of the Azerbaijani checkpoint in no way violates the clauses and provisions of the Trilateral Statement. Azerbaijan still guarantees the safety of the movement of residents of the Karabakh region and non-military cargo via the Lachin road. Moscow is also aware of this. The checkpoint has a positive impact on the security of the entire region, as it prevents the illegal use of the Lachin road, the infiltration of Armenian fighters into Karabakh, and the pumping of arms and ammunition.

Russia unambiguously advocates the strict observance of the entire set of fundamental agreements of the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, which envisage the opening of the most important transport routes and the establishment of stability in the region, which Armenia is strongly opposed to. For Moscow, it is clear that Armenia's stubborn foreign policy contradicts the Trilateral Statement of November 2020, and hinders regional processes, in which Russia is also interested due to the economic preferences that the unblocking of transport communications in the region promises it. All the more so in the current circumstances when Russia has found itself under Western sanctions.

Grigoryan's new claims clearly show that Yerevan is trying to finally shift responsibility to someone (Russia), and also for future military clashes in the region, which could occur at any moment amid the revanchist sentiments in Armenia. In the same context, it seems no coincidence that a number of Armenian politicians, in an attempt to mislead the international community, are voicing provocative claims that Azerbaijan is allegedly going to attack Armenia, voicing fears related to "Azerbaijan's plans to conduct ethnic cleansing against the Karabakh Armenians", which, one would agree, is utter nonsense.

Grigoryan's statements about how Armenia is supposedly trying to find "new security guarantees" are mainly within the logic of Yerevan's double-game policy unsuitable for Russia, which considers itself the only guarantor of Armenia's security.

Now, let us move on to Grigoryan's no less absurd statements against Baku. According to him, Armenia has its demands, because Azerbaijan has allegedly "occupied territories, villages" and therefore must return them to Armenia, and then discuss "international mechanisms and guarantees of security of Nagorno-Karabakh" in the framework of assumed international obligations at the negotiating table.

According to the Armenian side, "These are good conditions for moving towards peace".

"Numerous territories are occupied in Tavush. Armenia demands that Azerbaijan return these territories. There are such territories in Jermuk, Sotq, Khoznavar, and all along the Armenian border. Azerbaijan must first return these territories," Grigoryan wishes.

In short, the aggressor state is trying to put the blame on others in order to make itself look like a victim. This is Yerevan's usual practice. "Forgetting" to withdraw its troops from the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, not returning the still occupied eight Azerbaijani border villages, allocating considerable funds to support the separatist regime, refusing to conclude a peace treaty and delimiting the border, the Armenian side is ranting about the mythical occupation of Armenian territory by Azerbaijan. All this shows that the Armenian leadership is not ready to accept reality and move towards peace with Azerbaijan. This is in fact confirmed by the Armenian Prime Minister's statements during today's government meeting on the installation of the checkpoint in Lachin. According to Pashinyan, "The checkpoint in the Lachin corridor is a severe violation of the Trilateral Statement." He added that "the Lachin corridor should be controlled exclusively by Russian peacekeepers".

That is, on the one hand, Grigoryan accuses Russia of setting up the checkpoint in Lachin, and on the other hand, Pashinyan tries to cajole Moscow, appealing to the Trilateral Statement and peacekeepers.

What can be said here? Their behaviour resembles the play of a wannabe actor. People try to communicate less with such people because they are tired of them and their inadequate behaviour. Nobody is interested in their performance. Neither Moscow nor the West, let alone Baku. The latter, as we can see, talks little and does much. The checkpoint is where it should stand. Neither more nor less.