Nikol Pashinyan destroyed Artsakh negotiation package since 2018 -  RPA vice-chairman 

ArmInfo. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan destroyed the Artsakh negotiation package received in  2018, both in content and format. This was reported in a statement by Armen Ashotyan, Deputy Chairman of the Republican Party of Armenia.

As Ashotyan noted, Pashinyan tried to blame the loss of Artsakh on  former presidents, faced with a 30-year negotiation process. In this  regard, he recalled that the Artsakh "baton" was passed to the third  President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan and Foreign Minister Edward  Nalbandian from the previous negotiators - the second President  Robert Kocharyan and Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan - in the form  of the Madrid principles presented by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs  in November 2007.

"During the decade of Serzh Sargsyan's tenure in power, the  negotiation document based on these principles took the form of the  Kazan Document (June 2011), and the ideas and proposals that appeared  later became working approaches in the non-paper format (unofficial  document - ed.)," Ashotyan wrote.

Furthermore, according to the RPA Deputy Chairman, since 2008 the  negotiation process has received new impetus thanks to numerous  high-level bilateral, trilateral and multilateral meetings. However,  three factors have created additional challenges for Armenian  diplomacy. In particular, this was due to the increased external  pressure on Armenia after the tragic events of March 1, 2008 (the  death of 10 citizens and 2 police officers as a result of clashes at  rallies - ed.). The constant increase in geopolitical tensions, which  entered a new phase between the superpowers, also had an impact: the  Munich speech of the Russian President in 2007, the Russian-Georgian  war of 2008 and the international situation caused by the issues of  Crimea and Donbass in 2014, as well as the Russian operation in Syria  since 2015. In addition, the petrodollar "doping" from Azerbaijan's  energy projects and the sharp increase in military spending played a  role.

"Under these conditions, Armenian diplomacy managed not only to  maintain its "red" lines, but also, on the basis of the Madrid  proposal for a settlement that appeared at the end of 2007, to  achieve the most favorable option for Armenia, approved by the  international community and protected by it. The details of this  option have been repeatedly voiced by the OSCE Minsk Group  co-chairing countries themselves. At the same time, Pashinyan himself  called the Kazan document the best. In the period from 2008 to 2018,  Armenia not only resisted the diplomatic and military pressure of  Azerbaijan, but also, thanks to our efforts and more than 30 changes  and corrections, the "Madrid document" turned into fundamental  principles (Basic principles) that have entered the international  political and legal dictionary," Ashotyan continued.

In this vein, the RPA Deputy Chairman gave two examples illustrating  the transformation and optimization of the negotiation process.  According to him, between 2007 and 2018, the expression of the  people's will, which became the basis for the realization of the  right of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to self- determination and  the final determination of the region's status, received a legally  binding formulation. At the same time, the temporary rights and  privileges of the population of Artsakh proposed in the Madrid  document were replaced by clearer formulations, such as the  "temporary status of Nagorno-Karabakh" and related aspects.

In addition, as Ashotyan emphasized, even Azerbaijan was forced to  agree to a negotiation process based on these approaches. This was  confirmed by such documents as the Meiendorf Declaration of Russia,  Armenia and Azerbaijan of November 2008, as well as the five-party  statement of the heads of delegations of the OSCE Minsk Group  co-chair countries together with Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev at  the OSCE summit in Astana in 2010.

"Moreover, these revised basic principles became the cornerstone of  five trilateral statements signed by the presidents of Russia, the  United States and France in 2009-2013, as well as ten joint  statements at the OSCE Foreign Ministers' Summits. They formed the  basis of the relevant provisions of the Comprehensive and Enhanced  Partnership Agreement between Armenia and the EU, as well as dozens  of international reports and resolutions. Despite disagreements  during the negotiations, the three previous presidents of Armenia  were united by a common negotiating format - the OSCE Minsk Group,"  the RPA deputy chairman summed up.