MOSCOW, Sep 4 Russia is artificially forced out of the South Caucasus , are using Yerevan as a means to achieve this goal, a diplomatic source said.
«Relations with Armenia in the field of security and economy in Moscow are considered not as a «dependence» of one country on another, but as an equal, mutually beneficial and proven partnership,» — recalled the source.
«As for the 'detachment from the region' attributed to us, in reality they are trying to artificially oust Russia from the South Caucasus, using Yerevan as a means to achieve this goal,» the interlocutor said. According to him, «Russia as the closest neighbor and friend of Armenia does not intend to leave the region.» «However, this should be a 'two-way street': Armenia, too, should not become a tool of the West to squeeze out Russia,» he explained.
«The thesis that «the Karabakh conflict has never been a territorial dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan» is false,» he added.
«The root of the confrontation is the issue of the status of the former NKAR of the AzSSR, proper Azerbaijani territory,» the interlocutor noted.
«The armed confrontation in the autumn of 2020 was largely the result of the rash and provocative steps of the Armenian leadership (statements like «Karabakh is Armenia», participation in the inauguration of the «president» of Nagorno-Karabakh (NK) in Shusha),» the diplomatic source believes. According to him, «this largely depreciated the agreements reached by the parties through the OSCE Minsk Group.»
«If it were not for the intervention of Russia and Vladimir Putin personally, the results of the hostilities would have been even more deplorable,» he stressed. «Despite the fact that already 3 weeks after the start of the war, the President of Russia called on the Prime Minister of Armenia to agree to a ceasefire, which would avoid further casualties and ensure peace and tranquility in the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh,» the diplomatic source said.
«Allegations about Russia's alleged complete indifference to the «aggression of Azerbaijan against the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia» are untenable,» he believes.
According to the interlocutor, «relevant consultations were held between the Foreign and Defense Ministries of the two countries, as well as visits to the region by high-ranking representatives of the CSTO».
«The main way to resolve the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflicts is the implementation of trilateral agreements at the highest level, which has been unacceptably delayed by no means through Russia's fault,» he said. «Yerevan also does not fully use the potential of the CSTO, which, in particular, was manifested in the refusal to agree to the deployment of the Organization's mission and the choice in favor of the ineffective EU mission,» a diplomatic source noted.
«Against this background, discussions about some kind of crisis in the CSTO look like politicking,» he added.
«The point of no return was the summits under the auspices of the EU in Prague on October 6, 2022 and Brussels on May 14, 2023, where the Armenian leadership made a 180-degree turn — from the statements «Karabakh is Armenia» to the recognition of NK as part of Azerbaijan. This radically changed the terms of the agreements dated November 9, 2020, and made the work of the Russian peacekeeping contingent (RPK) in Nagorno-Karabakh as difficult as possible,» the source said.
«Nevertheless, Russian peacekeepers are making every effort to prevent an escalation of the situation «on the ground,» he noted. The source believes that «groundless attacks on the Russian peacekeeping contingent bring nothing but harm, including to Armenia itself.» , — said the diplomatic source.
«The settlement of the difficult humanitarian situation around Nagorno-Karabakh is not helped by Armenia's self-isolation. Megaphone diplomacy is not capable of replacing practical work in the Baku-Stepanakert-Yerevan triangle,» he concluded.