Tuesday, March 1 2022 14:32

ArmInfo.Charge d'Affaires of Ukraine in the Republic of Armenia Denis Avtonomov declined to draw parallels between the recent developments in Ukraine and the 44-day  war in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

So, on March 1, at a press conference in Yerevan, at the request of a  journalist to draw parallels between the 44-day war and the current  Russian-Ukrainian conflict, to point out the similarities and  differences, Avtonomov, in particular, said: "You know, I'm just a  sergeant in the reserve and it's hard for me to draw any military  parallels."

When asked to express his personal opinion, the diplomat stated that  during the 44-day war the tactics of the parties' actions were  different and the situation was different. And in his opinion,  in  Ukraine now, there is a frontal offensive from four sides -  Chernigov, Kharkov, Donbass and Crimea, as well as from the territory  of Belarus. According to him, Belarus also joined the aggression  against Ukraine.

Meanwhile, to clarify what expectations Ukraine has from Armenia,  taking into account the position of official Kyiv during the  large-scale military aggression of Azerbaijan against Artsakh,  Avtonomov said that Ukraine's position on the territorial integrity  of other states did not arise during the 44-day war. " This was well  known. We have the same attitude towards the issue of the territorial  integrity of China, Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan, the issue of  Kosovo," the diplomat said.

At the same time, he stated that Armenia does not express its  position now. Nevertheless, according to Avtonomov, yesterday, during  a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council, the issue of putting the  situation around Ukraine on the agenda of the 49th UN session in  Geneva was discussed. In this regard, the Ukrainian diplomat drew  attention to the fact that during the voting 9 out of 47 members of  the body voted for, 13 abstained, including Armenia, and Russia,  China, Venezuela, Eritrea and Cuba voted against. "In recent years,  this is the first time that Armenia did not support Russia, we  believe this is a good sign and this position will at least be  continued," the Charge d'Affaires of Ukraine said.

Avtonomov also agreed that it is necessary to cooperate with those  forces in Armenia who are against "Russian colonization." "As one of  my Armenian friends said, Armenia is not only the Caucasus - it is  all the Armenians of the whole world, including the Armenians of  Ukraine," the diplomat said, presenting the statements of the Union  of Armenians of Ukraine. In this vein, Avtonomov noted that the  Armenians  take part in the territorial defense, help the Ukrainian  army, pensioners and those in need. In conclusion, he assured that  the embassy is cooperating with all the forces in Armenia that  support them.

On November 27, 2020, Azerbaijan, with the support of Turkey and the  involvement of mercenaries from the Middle East, initiated a  large-scale military aggression against Artsakh. The war, which  lasted 44 days, ended with the capitulation of the Armenian side. On  the night of November 9-10, 2020, a ceasefire was declared by the  joint statement of the President of Azerbaijan, the Prime Minister of  Armenia and the President of Russia.

In October 2020, Ukrainian opposition MP Ilya Kiva said that Ukraine  was supplying weapons to Azerbaijan. This statement was later  removed. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said that Ukraine  sold weapons to both Azerbaijan and Armenia, but according to him, it  was done before the start of the war (it was reported that Azerbaijan  used banned weapons purchased from Ukraine. In particular, it was  about ammunition with phosphorus). And already on October 16, 2020,  President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented the head of  Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with the Order of Prince Yaroslav the  Wise, 1st degree, for his outstanding personal contribution to  strengthening Ukrainian-Turkish interstate cooperation, support for  the independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine. And after the  war, the Ukrainian side congratulated Azerbaijan on the restoration  of its territorial integrity.