ArmInfo. Retired senior adviser to the Russian Foreign Minister Alexander Ananyev made some revelations about the events in Artsakh in 2023 and the secret meetings that took place in the pre-war period. Tigran Abrahamyan, a member of the opposition faction "I Have the Honor" of the Armenian Parliament, wrote about this on his Facebook page, publishing a video with Ananyev's remarkable statements.
The latter noted that in September 2023, 2-3 days before the start of hostilities in Artsakh, representatives of Russia, the USA and the EU met in Turkey. According to him, Russia tried to prevent the escalation planned by Azerbaijan, but the United States was against it.
According to the Russian diplomat, the Armenian authorities knew about the expected actions of Azerbaijan, but they were ordered to declare that Armenia would not react to this process in any way.
"I would like to note right away that Ananyev's assertion that Russia tried to prevent escalation in no way justifies Russia's failure to stop a full-scale war against Artsakh or to stop it at an earlier stage. As for the Armenian authorities, they admitted at the highest level that they want to transfer Artsakh in 2018, so everything regarding them was clear long ago.
In general, international players, each under their own share of responsibility, have not taken any serious steps to prevent the blockade of Artsakh, contain Azerbaijan and prevent the forced displacement of Artsakh Armenians," Abrahamyan noted. According to the deputy, now everyone is trying to justify themselves, shift responsibility onto each other, and create the impression that they are fighting to restore the rights of the people of Artsakh or eliminate humanitarian problems. "In fact, it was with their permission and tacit agreement that Azerbaijan first took large-scale actions against Artsakh in 2020, in 2021-22 it already resorted to aggression against Armenia, and in 2023 it completely occupied Artsakh by force," the deputy concluded.
