Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin broadly commented on Azerbaijan's invasion of Armenia’s territory in May 2021 and September 2022. In his opinion, if the parties had kept the tripartite statement of November 2020, then "it would be clear who hit where and who occupied what in one way or another."
"I believe you have repeatedly seen in the reports of the Russian foreign ministry many words that we reject the violations of the tripartite statements that happened in the past. So here I will still risk correcting you. In the sense that we [Russia] absolutely do not approve of the violations of the tripartite statement of November 2020, regardless of by whom do they occur. Secondly, in connection with the topic that you noted about the ‘occupation of some regions of Armenia by Azerbaijan,’" Galuzin told the RBC reporter, commenting on the letter’s remark that Armenia demanded from its CSTO allies to condemn these actions, and responding to the question why this did not happen.
The aforesaid reporter recalled that it is about May 2021 and September 2022, when attacks were carried out by Azerbaijan on the Armenian cities of Vardenis and Jermuk, and it was recorded that these attacks were on the territory of Armenia itself.
"And everything you said indicates that the parties should have fulfilled from the beginning what they had agreed upon in November 2020; that is, delimitation and demarcation of borders. Then it would have been clear who hit where, who occupied what in one way or another," replied Galuzin.
"As for the CSTO, being faithful to their allied obligations, the CSTO members were fully prepared to send a monitoring mission to Armenia, which, if deployed, would have served as a much more serious stabilizing factor in the context of the Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement than the so-called ‘European Union monitoring mission’ invited by official Yerevan, which, according to our fairly reliable data, is engaged only in intelligence activities," said the Russian deputy FM.
Commenting on the question of whether Russia has reached a dead end by signing the statement on allied relations with Azerbaijan, Galuzin noted that he does not agree with such logic.
"The fact is that Russia's special allied relations with Armenia and Azerbaijan largely determine Russia's special role as a responsible mediator. In the fall of 2020, when a ceasefire was achieved with the central role of Russia and its President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, then the ways of a peaceful settlement on a tripartite basis were developed, and in September of this year, when with the help of the Russian peacekeeping contingent [in Nagorno-Karabakh], a cessation of hostilities and negotiations between the Armenians of Karabakh and the authorities of Azerbaijan were achieved regarding the ways of further resolution of the situation. So I don't see a contradiction here. And we are again ready to continue our mediating role in full accordance with the tripartite agreements," said the Russian deputy minister of foreign affairs.
