On 10 November, the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergej Lavrov visited Armenia to participate at the 75th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany in 1945. During his visit he met with the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
At the meeting with Pashinyan, issues of bilateral cooperation were discussed with special emphasis placed on the political and economic interaction between Armenia and Russia. Lavrov noted that changes in Armenia have not obstructed “the continuity in bilateral relations and development of allied and strategic partnership in all fields.” He also noted that “very close contacts between [Armenia’s and Russia’s] economic departments; intergovernmental commissions are getting ready for work in Yerevan in the first half of next year” and that Yerevan will also host a Russian-Armenian inter-regional forum.”
Lavrov also praised Armenia’s chairmanship in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the results made at the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Yerevan (Caucasus Watch reported). “I think, it was an unprecedented event with its scale, and I am very happy that during our chairmanship we signed trade arrangements with Singapore and Serbia, [and that] the free trade agreements with Iran and China came into effect. Our economic relations are developing successfully, and we hope the trade turnover will reach the mark of USD 2 billion this year, which is a very good result,” he said.
Also, during Lavrov’s visit, a cooperation agreement in biological security sector between Russia and Armenia was prepared. The agreement would allow Russian specialists to access biological laboratories established in Armenia with U.S. assistance.
The Russian Foreign Minister also spoke on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. He said that no agreements can be formalized in the settlement of the issue without the consent of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. “Everyone understands that without the consent of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh it will not be possible to formalize agreements. Armenia will simply not sign them and it is hard to argue with that,” he said. Lavrov also expressed his readiness to promote regulation of relations between Armenia and Turkey. “We are trying in any way to promote the progress in the relations between Armenia and Turkey. We are ready to use our opportunities to promote the regulation of relations between the two countries but for it we need interest from both states,” he said, adding that Russia sees no grounds to suppose that the two countries may start war between each other.
Lavrov’s stressing of the “people from the Nagorno-Karabakh” concept, caused reactions from Baku to share their views. Spokesperson of the Azerbaijani MFA Leyla Abdullayeva said that “the Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh region of our country is an integral part of any proposed plan to resolve the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.” “I want to emphasize once again that only the return of Azerbaijanis expelled from this region to their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh can open up real possibilities for resolving the conflict on the basis of a high status of self-government, providing for joint living in peace and security of both Azerbaijani and Armenian communities in the borders of the Republic of Azerbaijan,” she said.
The head of the Atlas Center for Political Studies Elkhan Sahinoglu, considers that Lavrov’s statement clarified Russia’s position on the settlement of the conflict. “We must understand that on the part of the great powers, including Russia, [Azerbaijan] cannot expect just steps to resolve the Karabakh conflict. The only way to resolve the issue is to strengthen our military power, increase the country's defense budget, and change our strategy to resolve this conflict. From now on, Russia's position has become clearer to Azerbaijan. And the Kremlin is not a supporter of a phased settlement of the conflict, but advocates that the opinion of the separatists be taken into account,” he said in an interview with Minval.
