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We used to lead a complementary foreign policy, but there is almost no leeway anymore. This is what second President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan said during a meeting with analysts devoted to the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, touching upon the impact that the sharp deterioration of Russia-West relations may have on the balance of the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and Armenia’s foreign policy. The video of the meeting is posted on the official YouTube channel of the second President of Armenia.

“I would like to remind that my administration was leading a complementary foreign policy between 1998 and 2008. Back then, Russia-West relations were rather warm relations, and even imagine that NATO had more programs with Russia than with Armenia. Russia and NATO cooperated rather effectively until the Georgian conflict. There hasn’t been a meeting during which the relations between Russia and NATO have been circumvented. Back then, it was possible to try to seek our interest under the principle of complementarism. Yes, there is almost no leeway, and this will lead to the emergence of the need to develop new approaches that will provide the opportunity to defend our national interest in a totally new situation. Back then, Armenia wasn’t a member state of the Eurasian Economic Union, and it joined several international organizations, but never went against its cordial ties with Russia in all sectors. I believe Armenia brilliantly took advantage of the moment when it was possible to integrate into the world and maintain extremely good ties with its strategic partner. Now the picture is totally different. Today the authorities need to be able to find the intellectual potential and develop a plan that will provide the opportunity to make sure the country doesn’t face problems.

Political scientist Yervand Bozoyan said the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is perhaps one of the unique platforms where the United States, France and Russia have a common denominator, and when asked how the escalation of the conflict can have an impact on this platform, Kocharyan said the following:

“There has always been competition. It is a matter of escalation. The conflict has never escalated to the extent that the negotiations fail. Now I think that the bridges for the process of settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict won’t burn and the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs will be capable of coming to terms to a certain extent. My assessment is that the disagreements over the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict won’t go deep, but the solution, which will imply serious steps, will also become difficult because the negotiations are one thing, and a solution is another thing.”

According to Robert Kocharyan, the interests of the co-chairing countries in the region vary, but maintenance of peace in the region is in everyone’s interests.

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This text available in   Հայերեն and Русский
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