Interview

For the US, a direct bilateral negotiation format means pushing Moscow out

Radar Armenia's interlocutor is international expert Shahan Gantaharyan.

- The telephone conversation between US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev occurred. What is remarkable about this phone call, and can we expect any changes in Armenian-Azerbaijani relations?

- The most remarkable core of the Blinken-Aliev telephone conversation is that the US is committed to making COP29 a successful event, for which the Secretary of State again urged Azerbaijan to fulfill its international obligations to protect human rights and release all unjustly arrested. The Secretary of State called on Azerbaijan to do this immediately. This is the main message. Of course, the main task of continuing Armenia-Azerbaijan bilateral relations has been remembered. For the US, the bilateral format of these relations implies direct relations without an intermediary, that is, without Moscow. He reminds us that the USA is always ready to help. These are the main axes.

- Earlier, the Armenian Foreign Ministry stated that Azerbaijan's practice of predicting regional escalations at every opportunity is thought-provoking and comes to substantiate the analyses made by several centers that Azerbaijan will do everything to abort the process of concluding a peace agreement with Armenia. 2024 for launching a new aggression against the Republic of Armenia after the COP29 summit to be held in Baku in November. Will Azerbaijan go on the path of new aggression, and was the US Secretary of State's phone call an attempt to stop it?

- After November, it is not excluded that Baku will again go to the torpedoing operations of the peace process. It is already using a renewed precondition policy. The main rule of Baku's tactical game is that until the peace treaty agreement, the Armenian side receives Baku's demands. The US Secretary of State's phone calls or visits are aimed at maintaining the referee status or, in this regard, implementing the policy of not giving that status to Moscow in any way.

- And what about the reaction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan to the fact that the primary condition for signing a real and lasting peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia is the constitution of Armenia?

- It is not only Baku's demand. It is the joint precondition of the Turkish and Azerbaijani tandem. In the Declaration of Independence, not only is the task of reunification of Artsakh but also the fulfillment of the aspirations of the entire Armenian people, the restoration of historical rights, and supporting the works that ensure international recognition of the genocide. This prerequisite will always be required with the redesigned versions.

- RA MFA announced that the Republic of Armenia recognizes the state of Palestine. How will you interpret it?

- The "Two States" resolution has turned into an international agenda. I think Yerevan's recognition is legitimate. Let us remember that Palestine did not support the rights of the people of Artsakh or condemn the ethnic cleansing carried out by Azerbaijan. On the other hand, however, Israel directly participated in the war as a military partner of Azerbaijan and deployed military bases on the territories of Armenian Artsakh. These circumstances should be taken into account when applying the rule of equality. Let us add that the fundamental points of international law, which were included in the official message, were applicable in the case of Artsakh.