Jirair Libaridian says if Armenia did not join customs union it would lose Nagorno-Karabakh
26.03.2014,
15:24
Armenia's accession to the Customs Union resulted from Russian threats that Armenia would lose Nagorno-Karabakh if it signed an association agreement with EU, Jirair Libaridian, a former chief adviser to the first post-Soviet president of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosian, said at a news conference in Yerevan today.
YEREVAN, March 26. / ARKA /. Armenia's accession to the Customs Union resulted from Russian threats that Armenia would lose Nagorno-Karabakh if it signed an association agreement with EU, Jirair Libaridian, a former chief adviser to the first post-Soviet president of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosian, said at a news conference in Yerevan today.
He said some former and present Russian government officials went as far as to threaten that Russia’s security guarantees for Armenia would be jeopardized as well.
"In my opinion, there is no other explanation to Armenia’s surprise U-turn,” he said.
According to Libaridian, Armenia’s accession to the Russia-led Customs Union is not a guarantee that Yerevan’s position will become stronger in the Karabakh peace process.
"We have no guarantees that Karabakh would remain in the same status , if we join the Customs Union, but we know that if we do not, we can lose it ,"- he said.-0-
