“We have sent invitations to the [two] countries to meet in Moscow and on the sidelines of multilateral negotiations in third countries,” said Maria Zakharova, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman. “Baku has always confirmed to us their readiness to hold such negotiations. Unfortunately, we cannot say the same about our Armenian partners. Perhaps they believe that their new advisers from Paris, Washington and Brussels will be able to offer something more interesting, better, more effective.”
Zakharova said that Armenian-Azerbaijani summits organized by the European Union in October 2022 and May 2023 did not end well for the Armenian side.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian unconditionally recognized Azerbaijani sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh during those summits. Moscow claims that he thus legitimized Azerbaijan’s September 19-20 military offensive that forced Karabakh’s entire population to flee to Armenia.
“There may be a repeat of that,” Zakharova told a news briefing. “Now, posing as its best friends, they [the West] will give Armenia advice that will then lead to another surprise.”
“We really don’t want the people of Armenia to be again deceived by their purported Western friends,” added the Russian official.
The Armenian government has denounced Moscow for its failure to prevent, stop or even condemn the Azerbaijani military operation. Pashinian said in October that Russian peacekeepers were “unable or unwilling to ensure the security of the Karabakh Armenians” contrary to the terms of a Russian-brokered ceasefire that stopped the 2020 Armenian-Azerbaijani war.
EU Council President Charles Michel similarly charged that “Russia has betrayed the Armenian population” of Karabakh.
The Azerbaijani takeover of the region deepened a rift between Yerevan and Moscow. Pashinian accused the Russians of not honoring their security commitments to Armenia, while the Russian Foreign Ministry said that he is systematically “destroying” Russian-Armenian relations.