Monday, April 27 2020 14:03

ArmInfo.Although not desired, the statement of  Russia's Foreign Minister Lavrov was quite expected.  Political scientist, Founder and President of the Modus  Vivendi Center Ara Papyan expressed a similar opinion to ArmInfo.  

"Just a couple of months ago, I predicted new impulses around Artsakh  due to the elections held there. The bottom line is that the  initiators of these impulses need " legitimate "authorities capable  of speaking on behalf of the Artsakh people. Especially, given the  actual refusal of the Armenian authorities to negotiate on behalf of  Artsakh.  Accordingly, I expect turn the floor over to "the elected  authorities of the Artsakh people," he said.     Papyan highlighted in the speech of the Russian Foreign Minister the  shades that had never been heard in statements from Moscow before. In  particular, the mention of the UN Security Council resolutions  without mentioning the main culprit of their unfulfillment  -Azerbaijan, who refuses to stop the hostilities, as well as links to  the Madrid Principles, the Kazan document, and most importantly,  including the entire phased package, a document circulated by the  parties in April 2019. And all this against the background of the  assurances of the Armenian authorities that there are no  negotiations, but only meetings.  

According to the political scientist, the prospects for such  initiatives of Russia entirely depend on its geopolitical bidding  with the participation of other actors in the settlement process.  According to him, Moscow, for example, may make concessions to the  United States in the South Caucasus, Syria and even in the Arctic.  "We don't know what is happening in international relations, we are  fixated on Artsakh. Meanwhile, relations between Russia and the  United States or Europe are by no means limited to the Artsakh issue.  Given the fact that 2020 is the election year in the United States  and Trump may need assistance in many matters Moscow, I do not  exclude the possibility of their agreement on the Artsakh issue, "  Papyan emphasized.  

The political scientist is convinced of the existence and discussion  of the document that Lavrov mentioned. In this light, he assesses  Yerevan's response statements , not denying the existence of the  document, but denying negotiations on its basis  as a play on words.   Meanwhile, the Madrid principles, according to Papyan, are a fact,  the basis of negotiations. The rest, including the content of   Lavrov's statement, is derived from principles.  

"There is no clear answer to these statements from our authorities,  because they either have to accuse Lavrov of lying, or admit that  they are lying. The Russian minister verbatim explained that the  Madrid principles remain valid.  There is no need to expect much  clarification, and until then how we will rely in the settlement of  the Artsakh problem on the principle of self-determination of  peoples, we will have no other way but to surrender territories, "the  political scientist concluded.  

On April 21, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov described the  document adopted in April 2019 at a meeting of the Russian, Armenian  and Azerbaijani foreign ministers in Moscow as an important step in  implementing the UN Security Council resolution on Karabakh  settlement. "These documents imply progress in the settlement on the  basis of a phased approach. I believe the first stage is the solution  of the most pressing problems, the liberation of a number of areas  around Nagorno-Karabakh and the unblocking of transport, economic and  other communications," he said.

It should be noted that in response to Lavrov's statement, Armenia's  Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan voiced the unacceptability of  approaches to its phased resolution for the Armenian parties to the  conflict. According to him, after trying to apply such approaches in  2014 and 2016, starting in 2018, negotiations were limited to  discussing assessments, approaches of the parties to individual  elements .