Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin spoke of Russia’s “developing” relations with Armenia and a favorable international environment for resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh at the end of a two-day visit to Yerevan on Wednesday.
Karasin said that he spent “nearly half a day” on Tuesday discussing bilateral ties with Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanian. “We have developed and will continue to develop our cooperation,” he told reporters.
The Karabakh issue was also high on the agenda, Karasin went on, welcoming a recent series of high-level Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations that have raised fresh hopes for the conflict’s resolution.
“It is now very important to have a predictable and calm international situation around Nagorno-Karabakh. We can note with satisfaction that such calm and predictability has existed in recent months and we need to keep it up,” he said, arguing that Russia and Western powers agree that any attempts to end the conflict by force “must be categorically ruled out.”
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Karasin and Mnatsakanian discussed a “broad range of issues.” “Special attention was paid to the topics of security and stability in the Transcaucasus region, including the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement,” read a ministry statement.
The statement said Karasin also met Armenia’s Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigorian and a senior aide to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.
Karasin travelled to Yerevan more than a month after accusing the United States of meddling in Armenia’s internal affairs. “We expect that the current leadership of Armenia … will have the courage to resist the unhidden external blackmail and pressure,” he told the RIA Novosti news agency on December 19.
Karasin pointed to recent statements made by U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton and Richard Mills, the former U.S. ambassador in Yerevan.
Visiting Yerevan in October, Bolton said that normalizing relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey would enable Armenia to break “historical patterns” that have shaped its traditional foreign policy. He also indicated that Washington is ready to sell Yerevan U.S. weapons and thus reduce Russia’s “excessive influence” on Armenia.
Karasin also stressed on Wednesday the importance of “predictability” in Russian-Armenian relations. Moscow and Yerevan realize this, he said.
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