YEREVAN. – We know how we [Armenians] gave Kars and Nakhichevan; history repeats itself. 

Former MP, non-pro-government Prosperous Armenia Party member, economist Vardan Bostanjyan stated the aforementioned at a press conference on Thursday, as he commented on Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s recent statement that a customs checkpoint should be set up between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

“No customs checkpoint will be set up between Armenia and Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh], and that’s the end! If there should be such a condition, we shall seek another partner. We know history very well, and we should be cautious,” Bostanjyan noted.  

Ruling Republican Party (RPA) MP Lernik Aleksanyan, on the other hand, expressed a conviction that Russia itself is interested so that there will not be a regression in the Karabakh issue.

“We should never allow for the signing of a document which will be a regression in our relations. A regression in relations with Artsakh is not in Russia’s interests,” Aleksanyan stated.

The RPA MP was surprised at Armenian News-NEWS.am’s query on whether it is correct to set up a customs checkpoint between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

“There is a customs checkpoint between Armenia and Artsakh. What are you talking about?” he asked. 

He also noted that two independent countries can decide on how the customs checkpoint can operate.

The treaty on the establishment of the Eurasian Economic Union (EaEU) was signed, in the Kazakh capital city Astana on May 29, by the leaders of Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. In addition, Armenia President Serzh Sargsyan participated in the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council and offered to sign a treaty on Armenia’s Union accession by no later than June 15.

In response, Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev spoke about the letter by Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev calling to accept Armenia into the Eurasian Union only within the limits of the country’s internationally recognized borders, and not including Nagorno-Karabakh. But Russian President Vladimir Putin, for his part, stressed the need to sign a respective document with Armenia in the shortest period of time.