“The Russian Federation took Karabakh and handed it over to Azerbaijan”. Excerpts from Armen Grigoryan’s briefing – CIVILNET |: “Russia took Karabakh and handed it over to Azerbaijan.” – excerpts from Armen Grigoryan’s briefing – CIVILNET

Automatic translation:

>Excerpts from Armen Grigoryan’s Briefing – CIVILNET

>Armenia’s Secretary of the Security Council Armen Grigoryan, during the international conference “APRI Forum 2024: Building the Future” organized by the APRI Armenia Research Center, responded to journalists’ questions regarding Armenia’s proposal to Azerbaijan to create a joint mechanism for investigating border incidents, negotiations on the peace agreement, and the decreasing security ties with Russia. CivilNet presents excerpts from Grigoryan’s direct speech:

>Armenia Awaits Azerbaijan’s Response

>Armenia is concerned about the statements from Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Defense regarding ceasefire violations at the border, as there are no shots fired from the Armenian side and no steps taken to allow escalation. We are concerned that such false news is being spread, but to solve the problem, we have publicly proposed to Azerbaijan to create a joint mechanism for investigating border incidents between the agencies of the two countries. This could be between investigative or other bodies that will investigate the incidents and come to a final conclusion. As a result, not only we but also the international community will have reliable data and will know whether such incidents have occurred or not. Baku has not yet responded to Armenia’s proposal.

>The proposal to create a joint mechanism for investigating border incidents with Azerbaijan does not contradict the work of the EU’s civilian monitoring mission at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. There is also a response from Brussels that our proposal could be useful. There is the EU monitoring mission, which operates from the territory of Armenia, but we can also create a bilateral mechanism for incident investigation. The EU mission is in Armenia at the invitation of Armenia, they monitor the situation, issue statements and reports if necessary, but they do not have the authority to investigate incidents. The investigation mechanism we propose is different; it is very important for establishing mutual trust. If Azerbaijan claims that there have been shootings and is interested in uncovering the truth, then I think it should be interested in the introduction of an investigation mechanism.

> Why is Armenia Arming Itself?

>Armenia acquires weapons and ammunition solely to protect its territorial integrity. All the weapons acquired to date will be used only to protect Armenia’s sovereign territory. Responsibility for regional peace lies with everyone, primarily the regional countries, but international partners can also help, and in many cases, they do support.

>Russia’s Share in Armenia’s Arms Supplies Has Decreased by Moscow’s Decision

>Armenia’s military-technical cooperation with Russia has decreased from the previous 96% and is now below 10%. This has been Russia’s decision, Russia’s choice. Russia decided not to supply weapons and ammunition. To this day, they have not fully supplied them. Interestingly, even with such problems in Armenia-Russia relations, where they periodically complain about Armenia acquiring arms from other countries, they do not supply the armaments acquired under contracts signed in 2021 and 2022. How Armenia-Russia relations will develop depends on how Russia responds to all the problems that exist.

> Why Doesn’t Russia Supply the Purchased Weapons?

>We have heard explanations that the main reason is the war with Ukraine. But there are also contracts signed in 2021. I don’t want to name names, but one official from Armenia was told that if Russia supplies us with arms, our positions will harden.

> The Return of Prisoners Is on the Agenda

>The return of all prisoners from Azerbaijan to Armenia has always been on the agenda, we discuss this issue with Azerbaijan and international partners. This has been on our agenda, and we are working intensively in this direction. December 7 of last year was a certain success in this regard, as 32 prisoners returned to Armenia, but we are not satisfied with that and continue to work to ensure that all prisoners return.

>I also believe that it is not correct to link the release of prisoners with the signing of a peace agreement, because, in our opinion, they—the prisoners—should return to Armenia as soon as possible. We are working in this direction. Peace establishment also means releasing prisoners. We need to work to ensure that peace establishment is comprehensive, in all directions, and also includes the return of prisoners.

>Russia Took Karabakh and Handed It Over to Azerbaijan

>Armenia has experienced war due to the previous situation of dependency on a single center in the security sector. The goal of the changes being made in the security sector now is to bring stability. We are convinced of this.

>Due to the previous situation, we experienced war. Russia came and took Karabakh from us or from the Armenians and handed it over to Azerbaijan. This is what happened when we were completely dependent on Russia. This was the reality. Russia took Karabakh, I insist on that. Without Russia’s permission, that war would not have happened.

>I can’t say what Russia received from Azerbaijan in return. One should ask Russia what they got from it when they came in 2020, eventually handed over Nagorno-Karabakh, and left.

> Armenia Received Azerbaijan’s Proposals

>Armenia has received the 10th package of proposals for a peace agreement from Azerbaijan. The process is quite dynamic, sometimes there is progress, but sometimes not. There is a well-known approach in negotiations: nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. We will continue to work with the aim of finalizing the peace agreement as soon as possible. Armenia is ready to sign that agreement as soon as possible. Recently, we proposed signing it within a month.