“No one can say when, on what day, but the Republic of Armenia will raise this issue at the UN Security Council. Why do I say that work is in progress? Because without preparatory work, at least to the extent that we can hope that we can expect a result for us, I think it is obvious that we cannot just fire this one shot with a blank cartridge,” Marukian said in an interview with CivilNet, a leading local news website.
In an August 8 urgent appeal to the international community on the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh caused by Azerbaijan’s effective blockade the region’s ethnic Armenian leader Arayik Harutiunian also asked Yerevan to immediately make the situation a subject of discussion at the UN Security Council.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry has not yet officially responded to the appeal.
Marukian said that Armenia is working to ensure that none of the members of the UN Security Council, especially its five permanent members -- the United States, Russia, China, France, and the United Kingdom -- do not interfere with the process.
“In this sense, I would not compare it with the previous times, because this time we are determined to go for a resolution. We have never been after a resolution. That is, in this sense, it is very important that thorough work be done, and we count on a UN Security Council resolution on the Lachin corridor. We need at least 9 “for” votes, and in this regard, I believe that serious work has been done, is being done and still needs to be done,” Armenia’s ambassador-at-large said.
Marukian said that Azerbaijan is taking countermeasures against Armenia’s move at the UN Security Council.
When asked which country unambiguously supports Armenia in this matter, Marukian said that it would be wrong to give the name of any country now. “There is a very important circumstance here that the process of adopting a resolution at the UN Security Council is open and public. Previous negotiations, for example, on an application, on the application of the chairman, were a different procedure, and they contained discussions that are not public, not visible. In this case, you will see which country will take which position,” he said.
Government critics in Armenia point out that Azerbaijan has further toughened its policy towards Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians after the statements of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian following last year’s meeting in Prague where he recognized the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, including Nagorno-Karabakh. However, according to Marukian, a signed document, which is the November 9, 2020 ceasefire agreement in Nagorno-Karabakh signed by the leaders of Armenian, Azerbaijan and Russia, has a higher legal force than a political statement.
“There is a tripartite document dated November 9 [2020], the presence of which is recognized by us, Azerbaijan and Russia, that is, this document has not been canceled, it exists, it is in force, its architecture in relation to Nagorno-Karabakh has not been completely canceled, on its basis the International Court of Justice adopted its interim decision. If we read this decision, we’ll see that it is also built on the November 9 document, and thus the international community gives force to the November 9 document. While in previous discussions at the UN our international partners wanted to avoid references to the November 9 document, how are they going to avoid it now, when the court is building its interim decision on it? This document from November 9 [2020] is a valid document, and statements are statements of a political nature. I repeat that a document has a higher legal force,” Marukian underscored.
Armenia and ethnic Armenian authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh accuse Azerbaijan of violating the Moscow-brokered 2020 ceasefire agreement that places the Lachin corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, under the control of Russian peacekeepers. They insist, therefore, that the Azerbaijani checkpoint installed there earlier this year is illegal.
The de facto blockade imposed by Azerbaijan has resulted in severe shortages of food, medicine, and energy supply in Nagorno-Karabakh, which is home to about 120,000 ethnic Armenians.
Azerbaijan denies blockading Nagorno-Karabakh and offers an alternative route for supplies via the town of Agdam, which is situated east of the region and away from Armenia and is controlled by Baku. Ethnic Armenian authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh reject that offer, fearing that it could be a prelude to the absorption of what remains of the former autonomous oblast into Azerbaijan.