Nikol Pashinyan's statements on representation of Nagorno-Karabakh in the future as part of Armenia's territory and the need for participation of the so-called Nagorno-Karabakh Republic as a third party of the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement don't correspond to spirit of negotiation process that has been conducted for over 25 years under auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group, political scientist, Andrei Yepifantsev, sain today in an interview with Vestnik Kavkaza commenting on Pashinyan's visit to Moscow.
"The main point is that when Pashinyan speaks about Karabakh's future, he says that Armenia won't agree to any compromises, including when it comes to 7 regions of Azerbaijan around Karabakh. He says that these 7 districts belong to the NKR. It's clear that he couldn't say anything else in Moscow, since that's what Armenian society wants to hear, and situation in the country isn't the best for Pashinyan, especially in contacts with Russia," he said.
Pashinyan's visit to Moscow looks like a response to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's visit to Russia. "I think he visited Moscow to show that Armenia's relations with Russia are fine as a response to Azerbaijan's expectations. This visit wasn't for Armenian citizens, no one in the country will believe that Russia and Armenia have perfect relations. It was to show something to Baku," he said.
"We can see that Armenia's position in negotiations on Nagorno-Karabakh is changing. If previously it tried to drag out negotiations under plausible pretexts as much as it could, now it shows that it's not ready for any compromises," he noted.
"Meanwhile, all of this doesn't correspond to spirit of negotiation process that has been conducted for over 25 years under auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group. Although it's unclear whether there will be any consequences, sincw there were no serious negotiations in the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group for some time, but it's unlikely that participants of this format will agree to Pashinyan's demands. Perhaps Yerevan's position will change when Pashinyan will be diplomatically put in his place, but it's unclear how will thiis be perceived in Armenia," he concluded.
