YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 28, ARTSAKHPRESS. Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan rebuked what he described as Russia’s “emotional, nervous reactions” whenever another country or party is trying to make a positive step in the direction of the Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement.
At the same time, the Speaker noted that Russia has a role in the discussions around the possible peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
“Of course Russia has a role, I don’t think it can’t have a role because nevertheless the Russian peacekeepers are deployed in Nagorno Karabakh. At the same time, I think that the spasms and nervous reactions from Moscow which happen whenever any other party tries to do something positive are a bit too much. I consider this to be far more emotional than what must be done by a big political structure. I think they ought to relax a bit, and be a bit restrained. They ought to understand the situation and realize that Armenia has an issue of its own interests and security which it must ensure notwithstanding any geopolitical [fluctuation] or anyone’s desire or jealousy,” he said.
Commenting on Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s statement that Moscow welcomes efforts from other countries for the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Speaker Simonyan said: “What matters is that they themselves must resolve this issue. They should’ve had resolved this issue. They were the guarantors of our territorial integrity and security. The Russian 102nd military base is located here. And our treaties covered this situation. Where were you? Why aren’t you participating more actively?”
