Friday, September 22 2023 10:08

ArmInfo.At a meeting of the Security Council of Armenia, held yesterday, the issue of the  situation in Nagorno-Karabakh was discussed. Secretary of the RA Security Council Armen Grigoryan stated in an interview with the RA Public Television.

According to him, various scenarios for the development of the  situation were discussed at the meeting.  Communication is maintained  with the authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh in order to determine the  basic needs of the local population and areas of possible assistance  in solving all existing problems.

Also at the meeting of the Security Council of Armenia, the issue of  the current internal political situation in the country was  discussed, since some forces in Armenia, using external forces, are  trying to bring instability to the republic, which, according to the  Secretary of the Security Council, they clearly failed to do.  Grigoryan noted that there are various areas of assistance to the  population of Nagorno-Karabakh, including their unhindered evacuation  to Armenia. "We are preparing for such a possible scenario, but we  are also considering other possibilities, including solving existing  problems on the ground so that our compatriots remain there, despite  the complexity of the situation," said the Secretary of the RA  Security Council.

He added that even the family of the chief of the general staff of  the Armenian armed forces, who is originally from Artsakh, lives in  Nagorno-Karabakh.

The issue is multi-layered, there are both personal and political  aspects, and in this regard, the accusations against us that we do  not discuss existing problems are incomprehensible," Grigoryan said.   The Security Council Secretary added that in addition to solving  problems directly, Armenia is trying to involve international actors  in solving them, as evidenced by discussions in the UN Security  Council. The point is to try to change the situation in  Nagorno-Karabakh through international pressure.

He repeated the remarks of RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan that  Baku, through its actions in Nagorno- Karabakh, sought to involve  Armenia in the war, thereby destabilizing the situation in the  region. "Even before September 19, when Azerbaijan began its  aggression, we warned both the international community and domestic  public that we were in a very difficult situation, when they tried to  drag Armenia into a wider regional crisis. Since this scenario has  failed, some forces within the country are trying to achieve their  goals on the streets, the main one of which is a change of  government. For some countries, a change of power in Armenia is  necessary because the current government does not correspond to their  goals, namely, depriving the country of its sovereignty and  independence," Grigoryan said.

He emphasized that talk about the pro-Western or pro-Russian vectors  of Armenia's foreign policy is inappropriate. Armenia, according to  the Security Council Secretary, has launched serious military and  other cooperation with India. "Are we now pro-Western or pro-Indian?  We are following the path of increasing the level of our  sovereignty," Grigoryan said, noting that since January-February  2021, Yerevan has launched active military cooperation with Moscow on  the issue of reforming the armed forces of Armenia. However, after  this, in May and November of the same year, Azerbaijan launched  aggression against Armenia, after which Russia actually abandoned it.  "Currently, the process of reforming the Armenian Armed Forces is  proceeding at an active pace. At the same time, the country is  developing intensive cooperation in this direction with other  countries, including India," Grigoryan emphasized.

Answering the question that, nevertheless, "there are Russians on the  ground," the Security Council Secretary asked why, in this case,  there was an attack by Azerbaijan on Nagorno-Karabakh on September  19? He expressed surprise at the position of some part of the Russian  political class towards the Armenian society. "Apparently, with such  statements, they are trying to use other mechanisms to destabilize  the internal political situation, because the means in the arsenal do  not work," the Security Council Secretary emphasized. In this regard,  answering a question about Telegram post of Deputy Chairman of the  Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, Grigoryan noted that if  Medvedev behaves like this, then it is Russia that should think about  it. "In general, we need to understand what kind of policy this is?  They must explain this," Grigoryan answered.

He added that the Armenian opposition is currently trying to repeat  what happened in 2018. "They believe that, having neither ideas nor  programs, a change of power can be achieved using previous  technologies.  "Our position is that it is the people who should  decide the issue of the government. The next elections will be held  in 2026, at which the people will decide who should lead the  country," Grigoryan noted.  Speaking about relations with Iran, he  noted that on October 1-2 he plans to make a visit to Iran, during  which Armenian-Iranian relations will be discussed with high-ranking  officials of this country. Today, Armenian-Iranian relations are at a  very good level. As Grigoryan noted, any issues are discussed with  Tehran; Yerevan is in intensive communication with the new Iranian  ambassador to Armenia, with whom all problems are discussed. "We  understand Iran's position on the inappropriateness of the presence  of third forces in the region, considering the Armenian-American  military exercises. But we previously sent appropriate explanations  to Tehran, in response to which we received an answer that Iran will  continue to maintain partnership relations with Yerevan," Grigoryan  said.