Harutiunian also said that a planned peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan cannot force the Karabakh Armenians to give up their right to self-determination.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has repeatedly expressed readiness to recognize Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity through such a treaty. His critics say that this would amount to Armenian recognition of Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh.
“We have to tell our public that international players that are trying to offer their services with regard to that formula or treaty are not quite making beneficial proposals,” Harutiunian told Karabakh television. “But this will not prevent us from using the important norm about peoples’ right to self-determination in accordance with the UN charter, and our struggle will be within the framework of that norm.”
He noted in that regard that the peace treaty is “on the agenda” of the United States, France and the European Union.
The Western powers have played the central mediating role in Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks held in recent month. Russia has been very critical of their peace efforts, saying that the West is exploiting the Karabakh conflict in its geopolitical standoff with Moscow.
Russia helped to stop the 2020 Armenian-Azerbaijani war through a ceasefire brokered by President Vladimir Putin. It deployed 2,000 Russian peacekeeping troops in Karabakh under the terms of that truce accord.
“Generally speaking, I don’t imagine the future of Artsakh without the presence of the Russian Federation in the form of a peacekeeping contingent or another mission,” stressed Harutiunian.
For Tigran Grigorian, a political analyst, the remarks are a further indication that Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian leadership is unhappy with the Western peace proposals.
“His comments suggest that at this stage the [Karabakh Armenians’] sole hope is Russia,” Grigorian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “He made a point of emphasizing the role of the Russian peacekeepers.”
A Karabakh delegation headed by Harutiunian visited Yerevan last week to seek clarification over the Armenian government’s plans to sign the peace deal with Azerbaijan. Earlier this week, the Karabakh leader briefed local political factions on the results of the delegation’s talks with Pashinian and other senior Armenian officials.