Armenians have only one lever in their hands, and that is the lever to sign or not to sign the so-called peace treaty with Azerbaijan. Armenia’s former foreign minister Vartan Oskanian said this during a livestream on Facebook.
"That leverage, of course, has weakened quite a bit today because Armenia’s authorities have already announced in advance that Artsakh [(Nagorno-Karabakh)] is part of Azerbaijan, they said that they are ready to cede territories from Armenia; but they are still verbal, the lever to sign in writing has not lost its power yet," said Oskanian.
According to him, that lever should be used so as not to bring a new war upon Armenians.
"Today that leverage is being used in a very dangerous way, and the possibility of war is increasing day by day. The [Armenian] authorities have the opportunity to verbally go back on their word, which will further strengthen that leverage; but here that leverage should be able to be used correctly. I honestly don't know if [PM] Nikol Pashinyan wants to sign or not," said Oskanian.
In his opinion, it will not be easy for Pashinyan to sign such a document because its content has nothing to do with the interests of the Armenian people.
"This, of course, can be delayed. And this is where the danger lies because the vocabulary, style, and rhetoric that Pashinyan uses today and at the same time the negotiations continue, the document is not signed, the danger of war increases day by day if you raise the expectation of the enemy; but [if] you don't, eventually he will take action. Mediators can't do anything here," Oskanian added.
He emphasized that the approach to the peace talks should be changed because it contains a serious danger.
"There is a real possibility of that today. It will considerably reduce the possibility of war if we were able to change the negotiation content, philosophy, narrative at the right time," Oskanian said.
Reflecting on Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan's call Tuesday, Oskanian said: "There, I would also like to have seen a call to Armenia’s authorities to take back Pashinyan's Prague statement. That statement is doing great damage."
As per Oskanian, the difficult situation in Artsakh is a consequence of Pashinyan's statement in Prague.
"Pashinyan needs to understand his mistake and correct it. Today, he has the opportunity to take back his statement based on today's situation. He can say just like that: ‘I tried something, but I see that our adversary is abusing it. I take back that statement, and today I have the right to do so,"’ Oskanian said.
"No one can do anything. Russia has already openly said about it. How else can they say it? They said: ‘Pashinyan's Prague statement, his signature under it, considerably changed the whole essence of the November 9[, 2020] ceasefire statement, and Russia cannot do anything today.’ It was openly said. The West didn't say it openly, but it says the same during backstage meetings, they make it clear in footnotes. Abroad, people are trying to change the situation, trying to influence the contents, but people are facing the same wall," Vartan Oskanian concluded.
