ArmInfo. Russian President Vladimir Putin's statement that Artsakh belongs to Azerbaijan is perplexing. In particular, it is not clear why Moscow itself needs this and how Artsakh within Azerbaijan corresponds, in fact, to Russian interests. Political scientist Stepan Grigoryan expressed this opinion to ArmInfo.
At his next "big" press conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that "Nagorno-Karabakh, according to the current international law, is a part of Azerbaijan." Also, Putin singled out "taking into account the interests of the Armenian people and maintaining the status quo" as an issue of great importance. At the same time, he did not rule out the introduction of an additional number of Russian peacekeepers into the region.
"Putin, of course, is not talking about this by chance. Thus, he seeks to replace France and the United States. After all, it is Paris and Washington that today demand the restoration of the negotiation format and the negotiations themselves within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group. Negotiations to discuss the status of Artsakh. Thus, the President of the Russian Federation directly tells them that the status of Artsakh can be discussed within the framework of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, "he said.
According to Grigoryan, regardless of Moscow's motivation in such a strengthening of the positions of Baku and Ankara, Yerevan needs to counter such tendencies. In this light, he noted with regret the presence in Armenia of a fairly large number of political forces that continue to assert the need for further integration with Russia, even against the background of the latter's similar position on Artsakh.
Such a position of these political forces, according to the political scientist, runs counter to their declared nationalist aspirations inside the country. In this light, he considers it necessary for such parties to voice their own vision of the status of Artsakh.
"I am in no way a supporter of the deterioration of the Armenian-Russian relations. This in no way proceeds from our interests, accordingly, it is wrong to set such a goal. But working with Moscow in the direction of clarifying the goals prompting Dmitry Medvedev, Sergei Lavrov and Vladimir Putin to make statements In a similar spirit, it is necessary. Countering Moscow's reluctance to restore the Minsk process will not necessarily end in ruined relations with Russia. Armenia needs to understand why Moscow is strengthening the Turkic-speaking world today, "Grigoryan concluded.