Armenian leadership so far has succeeded in having it both ways — Konstantin Tasits

Speaking with Alpha News, Russian political scientist and expert on the South Caucasus Konstantin Tasits commented on Russian-Armenian relations and the failed Pashinyan-Aliyev meeting on the sidelines of the CIS Heads of State summit.

“Politically, a misunderstanding persists as well as the desire of the Armenian side to distance itself from Russia. And in the economy, as a fact, there is a rapid development and deepening of interaction. The Armenian leadership wants to have it both ways, we see that so far it has succeeded,” Tasits said.

According to the political scientist, the meeting between Aliyev and Pashinyan in Moscow did not take place due to different positions and the fact that there was no subject for the dialogue. “It seems to me that the meeting did not take place, because usually summit meetings are preceded by agreements, which, in fact, the leaders should somehow approve or maybe try to approve, that is, discuss them at the final stage.

As for the peace treaty, Armenia’s position was to sign the part that has been agreed upon, about 80%. Azerbaijan believes that it is necessary to finalize the remaining articles and then sign the entire text. Plus, Azerbaijan also has preconditions related to changing the Constitution and legislation of Armenia that contain, as Azerbaijan states, territorial claims to its integrity.

In turn, Armenia believes that this is interference in the internal affairs of the state. There is also no solution to this issue yet. In this case, it is a matter of agreement between both sides. That is, it is known that there are lawsuits filed in international courts, both by Armenia and Azerbaijan, that are related to certain events, both during the First Karabakh War as well as the conflict that has taken place since 2020. This should be discussed between the parties, and some kind of solution will be found.

The same applies to the opening of transport communications. There are contradictions about the mode of their operation, there are certain contradictions about the routes of highways. Accordingly, this whole range of issues has not yet been resolved, and therefore there was no subject for a meeting. That is why it has not taken place yet,” the expert concluded.