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On August 19, during the official visit of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin to Baku, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov told the journalist of the Channel One Russia that the leadership of Armenia is sabotaging the agreements regarding communications passing through the Syunik region.
“We are in favor of the conclusion of a peace treaty as soon as possible and the unblocking of communications. Unfortunately, as far as communications passing through the Syunik region of Armenia are concerned, it is the Armenian leadership that is sabotaging the agreement signed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. It is difficult to understand the reason for such a position,” said Sergey Lavrov.
Lavrov also noted that today it is most important to follow the letter and spirit of a number of agreements reached between the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia in 2020-2022. “The foundation laid in the framework of trilateral meetings and documents is still highly relevant.”
In fact, the trilateral statement signed between Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia at the end of the 44-day war in 2020 does not contain any mention of the unblocking of communications passing through Syunik region or other parts of the Republic of Armenia. Clause 9 of the statement reads:
“All economic and transport links in the region shall be unblocked. The Republic of Armenia shall guarantee the safety of transport communication between the western regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic with a view to organize the unimpeded movement of citizens, vehicles and cargo in both directions.”
In 2021, during the consultation held at the Syunik Governor’s Office, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan also noted that there were no words like Zangezur, Syunik, corridor in the statement of November 9. “We are talking about the opening of regional communications, and with the Moscow statement of January 11, we clearly recorded and commented on what will happen, namely, the opening of regional transport links will happen,” Pashinyan said.
There is no mention of the unblocking of communications passing through Syunik region or other parts of the Republic of Armenia in other trilateral agreements reached after the statement of November 9 (1,2,3).
The Fact Investigation Platform also reminds that Sergey Lavrov made the exact opposite statement at the press conference held in January of this year, saying that the “Zangezur Corridor” was never mentioned in trilateral agreements. “The statement signed on November 9, 2020, which put an end to the war, states that “all economic and transport links shall be unblocked, that Armenia shall guarantee the safety of transport communication between the western regions of Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan in both directions,” Lavrov said, citing the November 9 statement.
By the way, a few days before Lavrov’s statement on August 19 (on August 7), the Azerbaijani side and then the Armenian Foreign Ministry announced that the clause on regional communications was removed from the draft peace agreement by mutual agreement of Yerevan and Baku.
“Noting that the article related to regional communications was removed from the draft of the peace agreement by mutual agreement, we should emphasize that their effective unblocking continues to be an important part of Armenia’s vision and agenda of peace and economic development in the region,” the RA Foreign Ministry stated. In this way, Armenia responded to the statement of Elchin Amirbekov, the Azerbaijani presidential envoy on special assignments, that by mutual agreement with Armenia they decided to remove the so-called “Zangezur Corridor” paragraph from the peace agreement and return to it at a later stage.
Thus, Lavrov’s claim that the Armenian leadership is sabotaging the agreements on communications passing through the Syunik region is false and manipulative, because there is no mention of Zangezur corridor through the Syunik region or other parts of the Republic of Armenia in the trilateral agreements.
Syuzanna Hambardzumyan
