Russia is constantly extorting concessions from Armenia, and sells them to Azerbaijan at a very high price: Manvel Sargsyan

Azerbaijan is terrified of unilateral recognition of Artsakh. Political scientist, head of Armenian Center for National and International Studies Manvel Sargsyan believes, Azerbaijan thus is formally involved in the negotiation process. “Azerbaijan negotiates with a clear stance: return the whole territory of Nagorno-Karabakh to us peacefully or we will take it by war. If this country does not return to the negotiations, then the world can recognize Artsakh as it was done with Kosovo,” the political scientist says.

Manvel Sargsyan underlines that the incitement of the April war by Azerbaijan was a serious violation, which was mentioned by NATO, the OSCE, and even the UN Secretary-General. “Azerbaijan did not realize that violating the ceasefire regime could have a serious impact on the attitude of the international community,” he says.

If the purpose of Azerbaijan's participation in the negotiation process is understandable, then according to Manvel Sargsyan, the concept of Armenian diplomacy is rather unclear. Regarding the role of Russia, Sargsyan emphasizes that Russia is constantly extorting concessions from Armenia, and sells them to Azerbaijan at a very high price. “Russia not only sells weapons to Azerbaijan but also provides them some services to keep under its control. Azerbaijan has never been a friend of Russia, but the latter is not interested in Armenia as well. Armenia has always been a tool for Russia for resolving the relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan,” he emphasizes. Find the details of the conversation in the program “Paradigm”.