YEREVAN. – Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that Armenian-Russian relations are excellent, and that he shall bring his new concept on the Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh] issue. Eduard Sharmazanov, Spokesperson of the former ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), noted this at a press conference on Tuesday.

“[But] we didn’t see his concept,” he added. “But one thing is clear: for the first time, our ally country [Russia], with its FM [Sergey] Lavrov’s lips (...) is making a direct accusation against the leadership of the Republic of Armenia for leading the [Karabakh peace] talks to a destructive course.”

Sharmazanov noted that after the brief war in April 2016, the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and the Armenian parties to the conflict had insisted, and therefore the Vienna and Saint Petersburg agendas were created, and they were a “yellow card” for Azerbaijan for launching military actions.

“[But] Nikol Pashinyan ‘did away’ with the Geneva, Saint Petersburg, Vienna agenda; it no longer exists,” the RPA spokesperson added. “After that came the Milan statement where there is the term ‘fair solution,’ and the thesis on the right of peoples to self-determination is absent.

“Today we saw that after Nikol Pashinyan’s statement, the [Minsk Group] co-chairing countries [Russia, US, and France] showed Pashinyan a ‘yellow card,’ and Sergey Lavrov already directly accused the authorities of the Republic of Armenia of leading the talks to a destructive course. This is a carte blanche to Azerbaijan, and the guilty in this are today’s authorities [of Armenia].”