YEREVAN. – Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev clearly said there are matters that are linked to Armenia’s accession to the Customs Union (CU).  

Armenia’s political opposition member Davit Shahnazaryan, who is Director of Concord Center for Legal and Political Studies, noted the abovementioned at a press conference on Wednesday.

At the same time, however, Shahnazaryan does not believe that Kazakhstan will obstruct Armenia’s CU membership for that reason; but it will continually stress this argument.

“This union cannot have a future. By making Armenia become a member [to the CU] with great speed, Russia hopes to have a partner, an ally there against Belarus and Kazakhstan.  

“I do not think that customs checkpoints will be set up [between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh] and Nazarbayev will stress this matter,” the analyst stated. 

He added, however, that Karabakh has become a part of the “Russian Empire.” 

“Solely Armenia could have become the guarantor of Artsakh’s [i.e., Nagorno-Karabakh] security; but we [i.e., Armenia] are losing this situation. We now need the help of Artsakh. Artsakh should contribute so that Armenia becomes an independent state; this is in the best interests of the Artsakh,” Davit Shahnazaryan maintained.

Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev on Tuesday stated that Kazakhstan stands ready to sign the “road map” on Armenia’s accession to the Russian-led Customs Union, but with a special position: it asks for a clarification on the matter of the borders of the Customs Union, in connection with the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.