YEREVAN. – Hraparak daily of the Republic of Armenia (RA) writes: In the last few days, active negotiations were underway in Moscow, the capital of Russia, between the representatives of Armenia and Azerbaijan over the recent events that occurred in the border zone. The goal [of these negotiations]: to reach, through negotiations, the withdrawal of the Azerbaijani troops that invaded Armenia.

Yesterday we were informed that the negotiations did not yield any results. One of the reasons is that first of all it was unacceptable for the other two sides that the Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armenia Armed Forces, Arshak Karapetyan, presented himself as the negotiator from the Armenian side. Apparently, they were waiting for a more senior official in status, and no matter how much Karapetyan tried to convince [them] that he is the second [top] official in Armenia, the parties remained in their position, and urged that the first [top] official appear next time if he is the second.

Besides, the Russian side did not manifest very active efforts because while in Moscow they are trying to resolve the current volatile situation on Armenia’s borders, [its acting PM] Pashinyan is visiting France, and the [Armenian] authorities’ propaganda machine sees Pashinyan's visit to France and [French President] Macron's words that Azerbaijani troops must leave the RA territory as a beacon of salvation.

The Russians have decided that if the talks are successful and the Azerbaijani troops are withdrawn from Armenia, Pashinyan will attribute it to the Western allies. Russian sources do not conceal: as long as the Armenians pin hopes on the Europeans, they [the Russians] will not be active, and the date of the next [trilateral] meeting has not been set.