PreferredMaria Zakharova, the spokesperson of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), responded—at Wednesday’s press briefing—to the question on Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s statement regarding the November 9, 2020 tripartite statement by the leaders of Armenia, Russia, and Azerbaijan.
In particular, the question was related to the fact that, according to the reporter, Pashinyan stated that "attempts are being made to present that the statement of November 9, 2020 represents the provision of security of communication channels in the territory of Armenia through third forces or parties.
He noted that such an understanding has nothing to do with reality. According to him, in fact, this function is reserved for Armenia. And he quoted Point 9 of the tripartite statement—but not to the end. He left out the last part, where it is said that the control of transport communications is carried out by the border service of the FSB of Russia. Does this mean that Armenia’s authorities want to invalidate this document? And what can it lead to in this case?”
In response, the Russian MFA spox stated that there is no need to guess, and that this question should be addressed to Yerevan.
"We [i.e. Russia] have not heard of such a wish. This has not been announced through diplomatic channels, nor have we seen such a thing in the public arena. We have never encountered anything like this. It's another thing that we see repeated attempts to manipulate both existing documents and their provisions. You know, as in the famous reprise: ‘We either play or we don't.’
Nonetheless, it’s about international law, about the documents signed by the parties, to which the parties make a reference to on a regular basis. And moreover, documents are discussed and quotes are made from documents that are being implemented. And they are being implemented, you know, not by the influence of a magic wand, but by people who contribute, who sacrifice not only their time, but sometimes their lives, so that what is written becomes reality. Therefore, it seems to me that, in my opinion, it is impossible to treat the citations of documents in such a frivolous, if not—irresponsible, way," said Zakharova.
According to her, among other things, "the generations preceding the current phase have paid a huge price so as not to see the essence, forsaking what was written in favor of some conjuncture of the present moment."
"Nevertheless, we should respect those who, sometimes at the cost of their lives, have brought closer—so to speak—the moment of settlement, fought for peace, finding themselves in different situations, but, one way or another, wanted a peaceful future for their region. And we should respect the efforts of those who drafted the relevant provisions of these documents, again for the sake of peace and stability in the region, and not to play with words. This is the most important thing that the responsible political figures do not treat irresponsibly the documents that were developed as a result of a complex historical process.
But if they [i.e. Armenia] answer your question, please tell us," concluded the spokesperson of the Russian MFA.
