ArmInfo. The first president of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosyan explains his statement that "the key to the Karabakh conflict settlement is in Russia's hands".
In his article published on ilur.am, Ter-Petrosyan says that this statement does not include any elements of sympathy or antipathy towards Russia. He also considers any criticism against this to be unserious. Unlike Russia, the West has never considered the Karabakh settlement a priority, which is proved by the fact that the West has never taken any efficient steps - only official statements and diplomatic initiatives. "The ceasefire agreements both in 1994 and in 2016 were signed due to the efforts of Russia. Under the current conditions of the resumed cold war and active participation in the events in the Middle East, Russia cannot tolerate an explosive conflict like the Karabakh one near its borders," he says.
The first president thinks that the initiative to resolve the conflict has recently been transferred to Russia, and the West understands this. "Unlike the West, Russia has effective levers of influence on the authorities of Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as for achievement of peace between them. The matter does not concern enforcement of any option of the conflict settlement. This implies promotion of the negotiation process under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group on the basis of Madrid principles," the politician notes. Ter-Petrosyan also responds to the criticism against his statements that President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev is a reasonable person. "Rational thinking is nothing supernatural or extraordinary, and since a person is a homo sapiens, this way of thinking is characteristic of the majority," he says.