RA NA Speaker: Russia tries to shift responsibility for its  inactivity to Armenian side

ArmInfo.Russia is trying to shift its inactivity, and in some ways its inability in the  Nagorno-Karabakh issue to the Armenian side. Speaker of the RA  National Assembly Alen Simonyan stated in an interview with the  Public Television of Armenia, commenting on the recent statement by  the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria  Zakharova.

On August 30, Zakharova stated that the current situation in the  Lachin corridor was the result of Armenia's recognition of  Nagorno-Karabakh as part of the territory of Azerbaijan. "This was  recorded following the summits with the participation of the leaders  of the two countries under the auspices of the European Union in  October 2022 and May 2023," she said.

"I saw this statement, the essence of which was that Armenia  recognized the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan in accordance with  the Almaty Declaration of 1991. But the territorial integrity of  Azerbaijan was recognized just by the party that was supposed to act  as a guarantor of the implementation of the agreements reached. On  November 17, 2020, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin  directly stated that Nagorno- Karabakh has been and will remain an  integral part of Azerbaijan. Let's say the Armenian side made some  statement, but there is a statement dated November 9, 2020, under  which there are signatures of three countries, which says that the  Lachin corridor is a 5 km wide area under the jurisdiction of Russian  peacekeepers. The question arises: where is this area, where are the  Russian peacekeepers? Simonyan askes.

He noted that for 30 years, no government in Armenia had any  territorial claims or demands to recognize Artsakh as an independent  state from Azerbaijan.

" Is Russia trying to say by this that it is no longer a guarantor,  as provided for by the statement of November 9? If so, then this  should be said directly," Simonyan said.

Answering the question about what is the reason for such behavior of  Moscow, the Speaker noted that Russia today is in a very difficult  situation related to the war in Ukraine. At the same time, he  admitted that the proposed corridors through Armenia have long-term  prospects, and also pursue geopolitical interests, including those of  Russia.

Alen Simonyan also commented on the accusations that the Armenian  authorities are trying to oust Russia from the region. "In colloquial  terms, we say the following, if you have an obligation to protect us,  then protect, but don't say you because you made a statement, so we  can't defend you. This is a false claim, Simonyan said, adding that  American and European partners also use double standards when buying  Russian gas through Azerbaijan.