Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev ruled out the possibility of negotiations with Artsakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan. “I consider it important that Armenia clearly declares what it actually wants. If they want to talk about the rights and security of Armenians in Artsakh, that is not possible. We are ready to talk about that with the Armenians living in Artsakh, but not with people like Vardanyan, who was sent from Moscow and in whose pockets there are billions stolen from the Russian people,” according to “News,” Aliyev said, adding: “He was sent from Moscow with a clear agenda. We are ready to talk with those people who live in Artsakh and want to live there. That process has already begun. Had there been no interference from certain countries, which I just mentioned, that is, from outside, and had there been no attempts to stop this process, I think it could have been more substantial. But that has nothing to do with Pashinyan and his government. As I said, there must be consensus between Azerbaijan, the European Union, the United States and Russia, that is, between those countries and institutions that can provide assistance on this issue.” Aliyev made these remarks during a meeting with a delegation headed by Dirk Schuebel, the European Union’s Special Envoy for the Eastern Partnership.
“Armenia wants to include issues related to the Armenian minority in Azerbaijan in the peace agreement. That is not possible. We will not agree to anything of the sort,” he said.
According to Aliyev, “Baku needs an absolutely clear position from Armenia.”
“I recently said that if they want peace, we also want peace. If they do not want peace, that is their choice. For 30 years we have not had peace, and Armenia should not forget how that ended,” he noted.
Artsakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan, responding to Aliyev’s statement, wrote the following on his Facebook page: “I welcome the desire of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to start a direct dialogue with Artsakh. Artsakh must be a subject in this process. I also welcome the creation of a new format of direct negotiations with international mediation. Among the international mediators, in addition to Russia and the US, France must certainly be included, whose Senate resolution adopted days ago contained a point on the recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh. Let me remind that France is also a co-chair country of the OSCE Minsk Group. I would also like to propose moving to a more constructive tone and receiving clarifications as to what, according to Mr. Aliyev, my alleged ‘clear agenda’ is. I have repeatedly emphasised that I renounced Russian citizenship to avoid accusations that I might protect other people’s interests in Artsakh besides those of the Artsakh people. I believe I fully meet the criterion of a negotiator set by Mr. Aliyev: ‘lives in Karabakh and wants to live there.’ War always brings war. Sometimes it happens even generations later. Today, aggression is a slow-acting bomb for the future generations of our two peoples. That means that the leaders of both sides must assume full responsibility and, however difficult it may be, sit at the negotiating table and stop the bloodshed.”
