YEREVAN. – I am very concerned about the criticism and assessments in connection with Russia by the United States regarding the recent settlements in Artsakh [(Nagorno-Karabakh)]. Armen Ashotyan, Vice-Chairman of the former ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), told this to a press conference Monday.

"One is that [former US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Richard] Hoagland had said, '[Minsk Group Russian co-chair Igor] Popov told me that even if the Armenians and Azerbaijanis agree on the 2016 plan, it's all the same; Moscow would be against.' This was followed by the official statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry that it was a lie, that the settlement envisaged three documents: a joint document of Azerbaijan and Armenia, a joint statement of the co-chairing countries, and a UN Security Council resolution. And secondly, the statements of a high representative of the [US] State Department were concerning.

Even at this stage, the Artsakh conflict must be kept as far away from the field of Russia-West clashes as possible. If the West tries to use the Artsakh issue, the current situation in Armenia as a stage amid geopolitical tensions with Russia, we are completely doomed. Everything must be done to restore the work of the Minsk Group co-chairs in a new way, and to do so by having full Russia-US-France consensus," he said.

The RPA official noted that high-ranking US officials are now inciting Turkey against Russia in Artsakh itself. "The very same [George] Kent [deputy assistant secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs] himself had stated that Turkey is the only factor that restrains Russia, Russia should not feel itself ‘one-man’ in the South Caucasus, that Turkey's presence compensates for the absence of the West in that region. We need this new situation with Russian influence to serve to maximally minimize Turkish influence in this region," Ashotyan said.