I was surprised to read a recent interview with Prime Minister Pashinyan, where he said that accusing Armenia of slowing down the process is a lie and turns everything upside down. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said this during a speech at MGIMO on September 2, speaking about trilateral agreements between Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan.
“One of the tasks is to resume transportation between the main part of Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan. The document of November 9, 2020, which was signed by Presidents Putin, Aliyev, and Prime Minister Pashinyan, says that the traffic will be restored – both rail and road. And it will be restored with security provided by the border troops of the Russian Federal Security Service, in black and white. And I was surprised to read a recent interview with Prime Minister Pashinyan, where he said that the accusation that Armenia is slowing down the process is a lie and turns everything upside down. Strange, because in fact, Armenia first refused the highway and insisted that there be only a railroad. Azerbaijan did not see any reason, but agreed with our mediation. Then suddenly, Armenia said that there would be no participation of Russian border guards, although it is written in black and white. I said we do not understand it either. “We will do it ourselves.” Azerbaijanis say that the level of distrust and even, so to speak, hostility is too high for Azerbaijanis to be sure of their safety at the first stage, when they will go through Armenian territory to Nakhichevan. Therefore, this contractual capacity or lack thereof very often plays a decisive role,” Sergey Lavrov said.
