Sensation from Iravounk: Is US giving Armenia ultimatum?

By Akbar Hasanov, Day.az

It's so predictable it's even boring. In Armenia, they go out of their way to refute the obvious - the inevitability of the complete restoration of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. It is terrible for the Armenian side to admit to itself that the soap bubble of the myth that they have lived for decades can finally and irrevocably burst.

This is what, in fact, is said in the message of the publication "Iravounk". They reacted very promptly and sensationally to the fact that the Secretary of the Armenian Security Council Armen Grigoryan met with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. At the meeting, as is known, a peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia was discussed. And now "Iravunk" gave out the details of this meeting.

According to this Armenian media report, the United States presented seven demands to Grigoryan. It is required that the peace treaty be signed before the end of the year and only in Washington. It is not indicated how official Yerevan will now wag, explain with the leadership of Russia, but we all should stock up on popcorn. However, further there were points even more sensational.

For example, there was a clause that Armenia undertakes to accept 65,000 Azerbaijani refugees in its southern regions. In addition, the United States insists that a structure from Baku be opened in the Zangazur region, which will solve the security problems of Azerbaijanis in Armenia. I imagine that after reading these points, many in the Republic of Armenia may begin to become hysterical. But, then it was even more interesting.

According to the Iravunk publication, Armenia undertakes to withdraw the Russian base from its territory by 2026 and replace it with NATO training units under the Eastern Partnership program. Here I would not be so sure of the feasibility of this paragraph, because the opposition of the Russian Federation will be very serious. However, as you know, Nikol Pashinyan, throughout his political career, was a supporter of the withdrawal of the Russian military base from Gyumri.

Plus, this topic has been actively discussed in many Armenian media for more than a year. Accurately, starting from the moment the AR was defeated in the 44-day war and whining about the fact that "Russia and the CSTO betrayed us, not wanting to fight against Azerbaijan." In general, and here it will be interesting to observe the development of events. And in the meantime, I will point out one more issue of the American requirements for the AR, according to the Iravunk publication.

According to it, Armenia undertakes to give back to Azerbaijan those enclaves that are fixed on the maps of the USSR and completely abandon Karabakh. Here, in fact, the process has already begun. We have already heard the statements of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan that Armenia recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, including the Karabakh economic region and enclaves.

Well, one more point of the American demands to the Republic of Armenia is that the opening of the Zangazur corridor will take place with the participation of an international customs organization, that is, without the participation of the Russian Federation. It is clear that in Russia they will be shocked by such a development of events. Because they assess the situation in a broader format.

The realization of everything that "Iravounk" writes about means a complete, final defeat of Russia in the struggle to maintain its influence in the South Caucasus. It is quite obvious that this is why Russia opposed the interference of Washington and Brussels in the process of Azerbaijani-Armenian negotiations. In the Russian Federation, even now they are trying to point out that it should be the only moderator of this process.

But, apparently, times have changed. Having unleashed a full-scale war against Ukraine, Russia has greatly weakened both economically and militarily. And this is perfectly seen, first of all, in Washington. Hence the increased pressure from Washington on Yerevan. All this is happening, I note, against the backdrop of the increased importance of Azerbaijan for the US and Europe, which is repeatedly emphasized by the White House. Therefore, we are dealing with yet another proof of how competent our country's foreign policy line is being pursued under the leadership of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.