By Azernews

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

The resolute mood of the OSCE Minsk Group on the non-admission of occupied Karabakh to the negotiations finally overshadows Armenia.

"For many months it has been said that our agenda of negotiations will be that we will discuss exclusively the possibility of Karabakh’s participation in the negotiations, and only after that we will be able to hold tripartite negotiations, that is, there will be OSCE parties and mediators, and only in this case, we will begin negotiations," Ara Hakobyan, member of the founding committee of the National Agenda party, reminded Nikol Pashinyan.

Hakobyan noted that during Pashinyan’s visit to Brussels, EU officials voiced the position that no changes are planned in the format of the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Both Federica Mogherini and Johannes Hahn stated that there should be no preconditions for negotiations and Armenia should be fully involved, he added.

The member of committee recalled the statements of European officials, even if there is a need to change something regarding the format, it must necessarily be coordinated with all the parties, and specifically with Azerbaijan.

The statement of the OSCE Minsk Group says that it is necessary to conduct negotiations around the existing agenda.

Hakobyan believes this is one of the worst possible scenarios that Armenia may have.

Recently, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, made a remarkable statement.

“Russia as an OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing country has repeatedly spoken about the negotiation format, which can change only on the basis of the consent of the parties. This is not only our stance but also the position of other OSCE MG members,” she said.

The U.S. Embassy in Armenia spoke in the same vein in response to a request from the Armenian media about whether the co-chairs really refused to return occupied Karabakh to the negotiating table through their statement.

"As a co-chair of the Minsk Group, the United States remains true to its willingness to support the parties in a peaceful and long-lasting settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. For more information, see the statement of the Minsk Group co-chairs on March 9," the U.S. diplomatic mission said.

So the situation is more than certain. Against this background, the statement made on the eve of Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan sounds like another attempt to reassure the internal audience, very excited by the failures.

Armenia has new approaches in the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement process, Mnatsakanyan told reporters in parliament.

"We are moving on the agenda, which was clearly announced in the speech of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Karabakh. Around these approaches and according to this logic, we want to continue negotiations with Azerbaijan," he stated.

The only question is whether Azerbaijan wants to hold negotiations with Armenia according to this logic, which provides for the inclusion of separatists in the negotiations and the rejection of the return of the occupied territories.

No doubt, official Baku will not talk with Yerevan in the framework of such Armenian logic.