The leadership of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) cannot pin hopes on the leadership of Armenia, and it must work accordingly, especially with the Russian Federation and the command of the Russian peacekeeping forces in Artsakh. Seyran Ohanyan, leader of the opposition "Armenia" Faction in the National Assembly (NA) and former defense minister of Armenia, told this to reporters at the NA Monday.
"When I say that the edges of cooperation with the Russian Federation and the Russian peacekeepers should be found, the role and significance of the Artsakh army should be clarified so that the international community knows [that] the Artsakh Defense Army was created during the first battle of liberation, in the conditions of opposing the war actions by Azerbaijan against the right of self-determination of the people of Artsakh; that is, they [i.e., the Armenian of Artsakh] had to create the Defense Army.
Second, major steps should be taken today so that the activities of the [Russian] peacekeeping forces [in Artsakh] are extended even after the expiration of the November 9 [2020 trilateral] document because without Russian peacekeeping forces, it will be very difficult to ensure the safety of the people of Artsakh," Ohanyan added.
And when asked what should be done so that this situation does not happen again, when the Azerbaijanis blocked the Artsakh-Armenia motorway recently, the leader of the "Armenia" faction answered: "Armenia’s authorities should first of all develop a concept for the existence, survival, and activities of the people of Artsakh. One of the [respective] directions is the foreign policy; and within its framework, relations should be clarified, especially with the [Russian] peacekeeping forces which carry out the safety issues of the people of Artsakh. They are the ones who negotiate with the Azerbaijanis, they master those nuances, and all this should be demanded from Azerbaijan. It seems to them that if we keep quiet, if we don't say anything, if we don't rebel ahead of the Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem, the Azerbaijanis will keep quiet just like that. On the contrary, ‘appetite’ opens up while eating."
