I would not consider that meeting "trilateral;" there were two and a half sides, or maybe two and one-quarter. The second president of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, said this in an interview with several media outlets on Wednesday, when asked about the results of the January 11 trilateral meeting in Moscow between the leaders of Armenia, Russia, and Azerbaijan.

"If they had put a picture of our prime minister [Nikol Pashinyan], maybe there would have been a bigger result; at least there would have been some impression of mystery. (…). Now Azerbaijan has resolved the issue of territories by force (…). We [Armenia], in fact, have nothing in exchange for which it [Azerbaijan] has to discuss the issue of status [of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh)]. This means one thing: Azerbaijan considers the issue resolved, and we have entered the final stage of the settlement of the issue. (…). They try to present the importance of that road. First, of course, it is good that the road opens. But look, I was president in Armenia in 1998-2008, our economy has grown by an average of 10.5% per year, the last 7 years it has been 12 5%, (…) but the road was closed [at the time], Turkey was blocking us as well. Now, let them not tell us tales that once the road will be opened, we will start living well, and so on and so forth.

Now, what are the possible consequences of opening the road? First, it is a big question whether it will be opened or not. The Meghri section will be controlled by the Russians, we will not have any influence on the remaining 850 km, of which 47 km is the Meghri section. Azerbaijan can pursue such a tariff policy that it becomes meaningless for us to use it. (…) At that time, the blockade even helped us to develop our agriculture and processing industry. What can be achieved as a result of the work of the railway? Our agriculture and processing industry compete with Azerbaijan, which has cheap fuel, and Turkey subsidizes agriculture on a huge scale. And in the short and medium term, this will hit our agriculture and processor; we must realize this. Drastic steps will be needed to protect our market. This government is not capable of such steps. (…) It is not that the opening of roads is bad, but clear steps are needed. Otherwise, many [Armenian] farms will lose their meaning," Robert Kocharyan said.

The second president of Armenia added that during the Key West talks, it was proposed that Artsakh be connected to Armenia through a corridor, moreover, this corridor would have the same status as Artsakh, and Azerbaijan were to receive only a sovereign road to its exclave of Nakhchivan.