Armenia’s demarche puts Russia in awkward position: paper

PanARMENIAN.Net - The resumption of talks on Nagorno Karabakh with Moscow’s mediation is postponed, Kommersant said in an article Wednesday, April 27.

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan cited the lack of conditions for starting a new dialogue, which was, however, already announced by officials in Baku and Moscow.

Sargsyan also said he sees no possibility for deploying Russian peacekeepers in the conflict zone and finds nothing new about proposals brought to Yerevan by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov last week.

Armenia’s demarche thus puts its strategic ally - Russia – in a difficult position, making the prospects of the Moscow-brokered negotiation process even vaguer.

President Sargsyan’s statements in an interview with Bloomberg chastened supporters of talks on the settlement of the conflict.

According to Kommersant, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan Ali Hasanov said that "the initiative on starting talks came from Vladimir Putin."

“He appealed to the Presidents of both countries; preparations for negotiation process are currently underway. Perhaps in the next few days we’ll begin the intensive stage of negotiations," Hasanov said.

A senior source in the Kremlin confirmed to Kommersant: "We employed all our diplomatic means to have the parties join the negotiating table as soon as possible."

“The Armenian leader made it clear: the society in his country is disappointed with the actions of Moscow, which is trying to maintain a balance between Yerevan and Baku. Moreover, he hinted that this disappointment may further increase,” Kommersant says.

According to the newspaper, Lavrov brought to Yerevan a proposal agreed with the international mediators, to resolve the conflict in Nagorno Karabakh. Kommersant says it was a modernized version of the Madrid principles.

On Tuesday, April 26, less than a day after his Bloomberg interview, Sargsyan made some changes in the leadership of security forces, firing three senior military officials – Deputy Defense Minister – Head of Logistics Department Alik Mirzabekyan, Chief of Intelligence Department of Armenian Armed Forces' General Staff Arshak Karapetyan, as well as Chief of Signal Troops - Head of the Department of Automated Control Systems of Armenia's Armed Forces Komitas Muradyan.

"Despite Yerevan’s objections, the question of a meeting between Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders is still on the agenda. French Co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Pierre Andrieu confirmed in Baku that the MG has no intention of abandoning attempts to organize talks between Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev," Kommersant added.