ArmInfo. The upcoming meeting of the U.S. and Russian Presidents in Geneva will undoubtedly have a connection with the already held meeting of Joe Biden with Recep Erdogan regarding the discussion of the Artsakh issue. A similar opinion was expressed to ArmInfo by Andrias Ghukasyan, leader of the Constructive Party of Armenia, candidate for prime minister of the "Free Motherland" bloc, political scientist.
The summit of the presidents of Russia and the United States will take place in Geneva today. Expanded talks between Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden will be held closed to the press and will begin at 2:55pm Moscow time. Earlier, the White House voiced the possible topics of the summit - the situation in Ukraine and Belarus, the heads of state will also spend "a fair amount of time" on discussing issues of strategic stability. According to Biden's National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Artsakh has become one of the issues on the agenda of the meeting of the U.S. and Turkish Presidents.
"We see that on the eve of this meeting, the United States is very active in presenting its position on the current status quo in Artsakh, the essence of which is that, according to Washington's views, Russian and Turkish peacekeepers in Artsakh and around Artsakh are deployed on a temporary basis. Accordingly, they should be replaced with a correspondingly mandated international peacekeeping force. In this light, apparently, the U.S. President will raise including the issue of the timing of the withdrawal of the Russian contingent from Artsakh before Putin in Geneva. I think that Biden raised a similar issue at a meeting with Erdogan as well, "he said. Ghukasyan believes that the prospect of replacing Turkish and Russian forces in Artsakh with an international peacekeeping contingent is far from sensational According to him, this may seem like a sensation only in Armenia, while the inadmissibility of the settlement of the Artsakh problem in the way it is being solved today, the United States officially declared immediately after the transfer of power to the Biden administration. The political scientist is convinced that Washington views the current presence of the Russian and Turkish military in Artsakh as temporary. Accordingly, discussing this issue at all meetings with officials from Moscow and Ankara.
In this light, Ghukasyan noted that the U.S. statement on its readiness to assist Armenia in the return of Armenian prisoners of war from Azerbaijan, already provided assistance in the return of 15 prisoners of war, as well as the call to return all the remaining prisoners of war reflect Washington's intentions to achieve compliance with the requirements of international law, and also compliance with the rules of coexistence of states.
"We see how openly violating the Geneva conventions, Baku organizes court shows against our compatriots. In response, the United States and the European Union, practically all civilized states, demand that Azerbaijan comply with elementary norms of international law. All this is quite logical and natural, especially against the background of the strange silence of Russia, the country which president's signature is on the document, which clearly states the need for the immediate return of all prisoners of war without any exceptions. In this light, we should state that Moscow obviously cannot but reckon with the interests of Ankara and Baku. Otherwise, Baku clearly would not be able to refuse to fulfill its own obligations and bear absolutely no responsibility for this," Ghukasyan summed up.