Secretary of Security Council of Armenia compares Aliyev to Hitler

YEREVAN, December 27. /ARKA/. Armenian Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan declined accusations of diplomatic failure in relations with Russia.

"The Armenian side has always been constructive. We did not boycott the meeting with the foreign ministers of Russia and Azerbaijan on December 23, as we are busy settling the crisis over Azerbaijan's blockade of the Lachin corridor," Grigoryan said in an interview with the Public Television of Armenia, commenting on Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's statement.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Bayramov in Moscow last Friday, Lavrov said he was “surprised” to learn about Armenia’s refusal to come for the talks from a statement by the Armenian Foreign Ministry’s press service.

Lavrov's criticism was dismissed by Armenian Foreign Ministry which said the Russian side was duly informed about Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan's request for “postponement” of the trilateral meeting of foreign ministers.

As for accusations of anti-Russian sentiments of the Armenian authorities, Grigoryan said that the work with Russian counterparts is ongoing. He said under the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020, the responsibility for Lachin corridor lies on the Russian side. In this context, Russia should pay attention to the actions of Azerbaijan, which is trying to destroy the security architecture created by the trilateral statement.

He also commented on accusations that Armenia expresses dissatisfaction with the activities of Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh.

"Armenia has repeatedly stated that it appreciates the activities of Russian peacekeepers. Now a crisis has arisen, Azerbaijan is responsible for it, and Russia can resolve it," Grigoryan said.

He reminded that Armenia several times applied not only to the CSTO but also to Russia for help after the September 2022 escalation.

The Secretary of the Security Council also commented on Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's territorial claims on Armenia's sovereign territory, who described Armenian capital Yerevan and other parts of Armenia as “historical” lands of Azerbaijan.

"Aliyev publicly presented his claims to Armenia. There were many such leaders," Grigoryan said, drawing parallels with Hitler.

He called on the international community to pay attention to this and do a lot of work.

"Our relations with Russia are contractual. We will continue to expect steps from Russia, if they are not taken, there will be questions," Grigoryan said.

He also noted that the blockade of the Lachin corridor is an attempt to push through the opening of the Zangezur corridor.

In response to the opposition's accusations that Armenia "washed its hands of Artsakh" and does nothing, he suggested that the opposition themselves organize rallies and hold other actions, pointing out that a UN Security Council meeting was held through the efforts of the authorities.

"At the moment, the main toolkit is diplomatic. It has been a difficult year, there has been continued pressure from all sides in the security sphere. The main task was to resist these pressures, protect sovereignty, acquire weapons. Armenia is trying to strengthen both military and non-military tools," Grigoryan said. -0-