Ex-president: Best Armenia-Azerbaijan peace deal would include Russia, US, China as guarantors

Former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan claims that the most effective peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan would include Russia, the United States and China as guarantors.

In an interview with the 5th Channel aired late Sunday, Kocharyan argued that Yerevan’s policies have effectively pushed Russia out of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). He recalled that Russian President Vladimir Putin was a co-signatory of the November 9 ceasefire agreement and bore responsibility for its implementation.

Kocharyan criticized the current Armenian leadership for abandoning the terms of that agreement, pointing to the 2022 Prague statement signed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan recognizing Azerbaijan’s sovereignty over Artsakh.

“After the statement, what role could Russia have in relations with Azerbaijan? Armenia’s statement nullified Russia’s mediating mission. The Prague statement inevitably led to the loss of Karabakh,” he stated.

Addressing the Washington-mediated peace talks, Kocharyan said the ideal outcome would include guarantees from the three major powers.

“It’s always possible to make proposals that build upon what has already been done, not deny it. For ten years, we pursued a complementary foreign policy and maintained good relations with Russia, the U.S. and Europe,” he said. “Each of these countries has its own sensitivities, we just avoided pressing those ‘corns’ and worked where their interests overlapped.”

Turning to domestic politics, the former president argued that the government’s persistent focus on a peace agenda underscores its lack of tangible achievements. “They’ve centered their rhetoric on peace because they have nothing else to show,” he said, adding that the authorities have failed to deliver on their 2021 campaign promises.

Kocharyan also accused Pashinyan of hypocrisy for portraying himself as a peacemaker. "He’s the man who brought the most terrible war to Armenia with the highest number of casualties and now he is posing as a dove of peace," he said. "The most peaceful years in Armenia were during my presidency as we had the fewest losses and no territorial concessions."