Month: January 2024
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NPR News: 01-31-2024 8PM EST
The Russia Foreign Ministry on Wednesday warned Yerevan that its recent efforts to forge close relations with NATO and the West might not yield the desired results, saying history has shown that those seeking rapprochement with NATO risk losing their sovereignty and independence.
The Russian reaction was a direct response to NATO’s Caucasus representative Javeier Colomina, who in an interview Armenpress’ Lilit Gasparyan said he was encouraged by Armenia’s decision to seek closer ties with the security alliance.
“We are very encouraged by the decisions that Armenia has decided to take in their foreign policy and defense policy, the shift they have decided to implement,” Colomina said, calling his trip to Yerevan on January 19 a success.
The NATO representative said Armenia’s decision to become closer with NATO “is difficult to implement and will probably take a long time, but, of course, we encourage our partners to get closer to us, and that is what Armenia is doing.”
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said at a press briefing on Wednesday that Yerevan’s “rapprochement” with NATO can have troubling consequence for Armenia.
“We have already seen what a rapprochement with NATO has led to for many countries: involvement in conflicts, loss of sovereignty and independence, being forced to submit to the will of a foreign nation in all senses of the word and in all spheres, and most importantly, the lack of opportunity to realize one’s own national interests,” said Zakharova.
“Probably, here we should start from the basic realities, and assess what the national interests of each country, particularly of Armenia, are,” Zakharova added. “We should probably analyze that, we should probably open the map, we should look at which region and between which neighbors that country is located.”
Moscow’s unusually quick response to the NATO representative signals that the Russian government is more concerned about Yerevan’s westward tilt that it has suggested in public statements.
Zakharova underscored that NATO and the United States are not trustworthy allies and said historically those nations that have forged alliances with them have wound up on the losing side, because, she said, “I haven’t seen any examples in the last 30 to 40 years” of NATO or the U.S. fulfilling the promises they make to those allied nations.
In his interview with Armenpress, Colomina said that NATO considers Russia a threat, adding that Russia “already made a strategic mistake invading Ukraine. And they need to understand that NATO will be ready to defend every inch of our territory.”
YEREVAN (Azatutyun.am)—Senior Armenian and Azerbaijani officials held on Wednesday another round of direct negotiations on the delimitation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, a key hurdle to a comprehensive peace deal between the two nations.
The sixth joint session of Armenian and Azerbaijani government commissions on border demarcation and delimitation took place at a relatively peaceful section of the heavily militarized frontier. It was co-chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Shahin Mustfayev.
The two sides issued very short and identical statements that shed no light on the agenda of the talks or give other details. Nor did they report any agreements.
Speaking in Yerevan earlier in the day, parliament speaker Alen Simonyan said that the Armenian side hopes the fresh talks will bring more clarity to the delimitation issue. He indicated that Baku and Yerevan continue to disagree on a concrete mechanism for delineating the border.
“We can show, with a deviation of meters, where the border of Armenia and Azerbaijan passes,” Simonian told reporters. “Not just show some imaginary maps but maps with legal basis under them.”
Armenia insists on using the most recent Soviet military maps drawn in the 1970s. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev reiterated Baku’s rejection of the idea in early January, saying that it favors the Armenian side.
Aliyev again accused Armenia of occupying “eight Azerbaijani villages” and said their return will top the agenda of the upcoming delimitation talks. Grigorian denied this, saying that the Armenian and Azerbaijani government commissions will compare each other’s maps and discuss procedural issues.
Aliyev and other Azerbaijani officials also said that an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty should be signed before the delimitation and demarcation of the border. Yerevan insists, however, that the treaty must spell out legally binding principles of the delimitation process. Armenian analysts and opposition figures believe that Aliyev wants to leave the door open to Azerbaijani territorial claims to Armenia.