Radar Armenia's interlocutor is international expert Shahan Gantaharyan

- First, I would like to address the events around Karabakh and present your observations and assessments of what happened.

- The duration of the war unleashed by Baku, the sacrifice of the Russian peacekeepers and the audience of the international community make us think that this was a coordinated action, the purpose of which was to get the Artsakh side to agree to the proposal for negotiations with a reconciliation agenda, the first condition of which is the dissolution of Artsakh's armed forces.

- What developments do you expect in Karabakh after all this?

- A new process will begin. Stepanakert-Baku negotiations. The agendas have been announced in a certain sense, but the methodology needs to be clarified. There will likely be Russian mediation. The Russians should try to create such an environment that the population will stay in Artsakh. The presence of the Russian peacekeeping forces in Artsakh depends on that circumstance. There will be a competition here again. The UN should address the need for international involvement. It was announced as an imperative during the extraordinary session of the UN Security Council by the representatives of different countries.

On the one hand, the Russian Federation should try to make appropriate guarantees of the numbering agenda; on the other hand, the international community should raise the issue of the security rights of the people of Artsakh and demand a global presence with this task.

- I would like to ask you to evaluate the steps of the Russian side because they have become the only guarantor of the security of the local Armenian population.

- The first agreements regarding the withdrawal of Azerbaijani troops, the return of citizens to their residences, and the exit to Artsakh speak about the fact that Moscow is trying to guarantee such actions that will not give impetus to the evacuation of the population. The steps taken by the Russian Federation in Artsakh are aimed at extending the period of their stay.

- Azerbaijan seems to have made the "Zangezuri Corridor" the next item on the agenda. Does this mean another escalation, already at the border of Armenia?

- The Nakhichevan-Azerbaijan highway will be opened mainly with the agreement of Russia, Iran, and Turkey. If the three countries agree on the status of the road to be opened and the mechanism of its control, then the road will be opened. Now, Baku will follow the path of the peace treaty, where there is a point about the Nakhichevan-Azerbaijan channels.

-Now that Azerbaijan considers the Nagorno-Karabakh issue closed, including that it has achieved the desired goal, can we see a real will and steps to go to peace with Armenia? And in this regard, is it possible to see a peace treaty next year, if not before the end of the year? 

- There will be peace when the military balance is re-established. Otherwise, Baku will continually develop new tasks and resort to military-political actions in its direction. Otherwise, the agreements will not work, just as the November tripartite did not work.

There should be a demilitarized zone between Armenia and Azerbaijan, where third-party gamekeeping may be necessary. It is a different matter that the agreement on the composition of that peacekeeping will face other geopolitical interests and tasks.

Hayk Magoyan