The Washington talks between Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the US are actually not about the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) issue, but about determining the status of Armenia. Political scientist Beniamin Matevosyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am about this.

"In the talks, Azerbaijan insists that the process of [border] demarcation and delimitation should be based on any of their maps, to negotiate vertically with Artsakh. The Washington talks are actually not about Artsakh, but about the status of Armenia, what status Armenia will have within the framework of the Turkey-Azerbaijan military-political alliance, a status that does not have any security guarantee. But since there is the issue of Artsakh in the public perception, provisions about it are included," said Matevosyan.

The political scientist was not surprised by the US ambassador's statement that the people of Artsakh can live as part of Azerbaijan. According to him, Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan had recognized Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan back on October 6, 2022, in Prague, and the US ambassador to Armenia simply stated the obvious.

"If we open the statement a little more, the best guarantee for the people of Artsakh will be to obey the constitution of Azerbaijan. There is no international guarantee ensuring security for Artsakh, the US has never spoken about such a thing; this is the biggest deception. Nikol Pashinyan has approved a plan by which Artsakh will be part of Azerbaijan without any status, and the guarantor of security should be the constitution of Azerbaijan. He should thank the US ambassador [to Armenia] for [her] sincerity," said Matevosyan.

According to the political scientist, the talks between Artsakh and Karabakh are necessary—but not according to the model around which Armenia is negotiating today. As per Matevosyan, these talks should be as equals, not vertical.

"Baku, as the center, will talk with the representatives of Artsakh and the representatives of territorial self-government bodies. This model directly leads to genocide [of the Artsakh Armenians]. We should not have any issues with the American side at all. They are pursuing their interests: to remove Russia from all zones of influence. And if its price is the genocide of the Armenians, they are ready to pay that price. They implement the plan together with Armenia’s authorities. But if the interest of the US is understandable, then what is the interest of Armenia? And does the Republic of Armenia receive any international guarantee? As they push Armenia to a strategic alliance with Azerbaijan, do they provide a security guarantee? No. But that's not their problem, it's ours," emphasized the political scientist.