Wednesday, January 5 2022 13:43

ArmInfo.Nikol Pashinyan's speeches about the era of peace with Azerbaijan, his mentioning Azerbaijani toponyms of Armenian settlements contain intent in order  to prepare the Armenian society for further developments. This  opinion was expressed to ArmInfo by Ambassador Extraordinary and  Plenipotentiary, former Foreign Minister of Artsakh Arman Melikyan.

"With such statements, the prime minister is trying to accustom the  society to the idea of the return of Azerbaijanis to Artsakh, to the  territories adjacent to Artsakh, which, apparently, is his political  line in 2022. The actions of the existing political forces are  incapable of turning this line, but there is hope that in the future  forces will be formed, which external players will also have to  reckon with", he forecasts.

In the opinion of the diplomat, the ruling party in Armenia has lost  its political influence on Artsakh, the Armenian subjectivity of  which currently depends solely on the consolidation and unified  position of the Armenian society on the Artsakh issue. Meanwhile, the  authorities and the opposition compete with each other, voicing  mutual accusations, while preferring to evade real steps towards  solving the Artsakh problems.

At the same time, commenting on the contradictory statements of  Yerevan and Baku regarding the so- called "Zangezur corridor", the  diplomat forecasts that Baku will clearly receive less than expected,  and Yerevan will yield more than it intends to. Commenting on the  current positions of the leadership of Armenia and Azerbaijan,  Melikyan noted that in reality both the defeat of Armenia and the  victory of Azerbaijan were the result of the actions of external  forces. The latter assumes that the decisive word in this and other  issues will belong to external forces.  

Meanwhile, Melikyan considers the 3 + 2 format proposed by external  forces as a mechanism for forcing Armenia to recognize the realities  created by the results of the 44-day war. Up to the recognition by  Yerevan of the interstate borders outlined by the Treaty of Kars and  the extraterritoriality of the routes of communication with  Nakhichevan through Armenia. In his opinion, for that purpose Armenia  can be blackmailed over the future status of Artsakh and the security  guarantees of its population. At the same time, even the passive  participation of Armenia in the format of the OSCE Minsk Group, in  his opinion, will automatically preserve Yerevan's status as the most  important guarantor of ensuring the rights of the Artsakh people.  

Touching upon the reasons for the recent surge in nostalgic  references to the USSR in the Russian media, Melikyan noted that even  in the event of a hypothetical infusion of Russia, Belarus and  Armenia into a single state, Moscow will receive a short-term  reincarnation of the Russian Empire, but by no means the USSR.  According to his forecasts, the reincarnation of the Soviet Union  should not be expected in any case.  In the opinion of the diplomat,  the task of Armenia in this geopolitical situation is to avoid new  human and territorial losses at any cost. The latter, however,  requires a clear and correct formulation of our own long- term  interests and their alignment with our own existing demographic,  financial and military capabilities