YEREVAN (Combined Sources)–Ceding even a centimeter of territory from Karabakh in the negotiations process is unacceptable, Armenian Revolutionary Federation Parliamentary faction member Ara Nranyan told reporters during a press conference on Friday.
"It is inadmissible, he said, warning that such a large compromise would result in a total loss where Karabakh would “lose everything.”
Making concessions that ignore historical and present realities will not result in a final and lasting peace, he said.
Nranyan noted the increasing frequency of discussion on Armenia’s supposed readiness to return lands under Karabakh’s jurisdiction, saying that special attention should be paid to the preparation of public opinion on the resolution of the Karabakh conflict, as the Armenian and Azeri presidents will not be able to sign a document deemed unacceptable by the Armenian public.
But trilateral meeting between the President of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia would serve as a “new stimulus” for the Karbakh peace process, added Nranyan, commenting on Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s remarks in Yerevan earlier this week that Russia is keen on hosting an Armenian-Azeri summit in Moscow.
"Russia’s initiative of holding a trilateral meeting does not go beyond the limits of the OSCE Minsk group, as Russia is one of the group’s co-chairs,” Nranyan said. “Similar meetings have been held both in the United States and in France at different times.”
Unfortunately a certain rivalry exists between some state’s co-chairing the Minsk Group, added the head of the ARF parliamentary group, Artyusha Shahbazyan.
The question is in which of the co-chairs will gain more from a resolution of the conflict, Shahbazyan said, noting that unless the conflict is resolved, the foreign policies of Armenia and Azerbaijan will remain dependent on the major power brokers in the region.
