Friday, October 26 2018 15:09

ArmInfo. Pressure from different sides may be applied on the Armenian authorities, but the most important thing for us is to avoid solving the Karabakh issue  according to the principle "by any means", Head of ARF  "Dashnaktsutyun" faction Armen Rustamyan stated on October 26 at the  briefing in the Armenian parliament.

 The MP stated that it is not right to make concessions on such an  important issue as Artsakh. "Making concessions that contradict our  interests is a mistake for any government. The current situation is a  bit like the beginning of the 1990s, and this worries me a lot," the  Head of the ARF faction admitted.  Rustamyan noted that for Armenia  one of the priority tasks is to ensure the balance of forces in  Artsakh, no matter which way. He stressed that Azerbaijan acquires  weapons not only from Russia, but Armenia only from Russia.  "Consequently, we are also able to buy weapons from other countries,  guided by our primary interests," the head of the ARF faction said.

Regarding whether it can cause dissatisfaction of the Russian  authorities, the MP noted that representatives of the Kremlin  themselves should be aware that either the countries of the OSCE  Minsk Group do not sell weapons at all, or they sell in a way that  does not lead to imbalance . "As soon as the balance of power is  disturbed, one of the parties that has advantage immediately begins  to show aggression and war begins. As we all see, Armenia has  somewhat fell behind the pace on this issue, and Bolton probably  hinted that it is necessary to restore the military balance between  the parties to the conflict. Moreover, I think that he hinted that  the Armenian side may have the opportunity to acquire new weapons  that would help level out the balance of forces, " Rustamyan said.   In turn, the secretary of the Tsarukyan Bloc parliamentary faction  Vahe Enfiajyan stated that for Armenia the top-priority task is to  resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by peaceful means only. He also  noted that Artsakh should participate in the negotiations, no matter  how much Azerbaijan opposes it. "Russia was, is and will be our  strategic partner, but we have the potential to deepen these  relations. At the same time, we can continue to deepen our relations  with the EU and with the United States of America," said the MP.  The  Head of the faction of the Republican Party Vahram Baghdasaryan said  that the fact of selling weapons to the conflicting parties by the  OSCE Minsk Group member countries only heightens the situation. "As  you know, Armenia has always taken a position on the peaceful  settlement of the Artsakh conflict. Such statements that John Bolton  made yesterday only push the parties to the conflict, and the OSCE  Minsk Group co-chairs should refrain from such actions. The same  applies to Russia," Baghdasaryan noted.  Speaking about the  possibility of resolving the conflict after the early parliamentary  elections, Baghdasaryan stated that he does not see such prospects.  "Moreover, I can't imagine what consensus the parties can come up in  this situation, regardless of whether early elections will take place  by this time or not. The priority task for Armenia is the recognition  of the Artsakh Republic, remaining issues can be resolved later  through negotiations, "Baghdasaryan stressed. The head of the RPA  faction also commented on the statement of US National Security  Advisor to the President John Bolton, in which the latter said that  Armenia should abandon the "historical patterns". "I want to note  that we do not have" historical patterns ", we have national values.  Withdrawing national values means denying our past, and this calls  into question our future," the RPA faction head stressed.  To note,  yesterday US National Security Advisor to the President John Bolton  said that possibly, US President Donald Trump will suspend 907  amendment to the Freedom Support Act, which limits US assistance to  Azerbaijan at the state level.