We are talking about the same old Russian billionaire of Armenian origin Ruben Vardanyan, who was “posted” from Moscow to Karabakh last fall, and who held the office of so-called “state minister” there for several months until he was dismissed at Baku’s request.
Ruben Vardanyan, who suddenly resurfaced in the media, said on behalf of the “Front for Security and Development of Nagorno-Karabakh” movement that he did not accept the decision of the Armenian authorities to recognize the former Nagorno-Karabakh region as an integral part of Azerbaijan.
Interestingly, this time Vardanyan called himself the coordinator of this “front” and openly declared that its goal was to “overthrow” Arayik Harutyunyan and seize “power” in Khankendi.
It should be noted that Ruben Vardanyan, who claims to be the “savior of the nation”, has a serious rival in the former field commander and one of the leaders of the Karabakh separatists, General Samvel Babayan. The latter also calls himself the “savior of Karabakh”, loudly asserting that he knows how to make the Karabakh Armenians happy.
Haqqin.az previously reported that Samvel Babayan had recently took his supporters to the streets of Khankendi and delivered an ultimatum to Arayik Harutyunyan, demanding the chair of “state minister with extensive powers”. Harutyunyan agreed to start negotiations with Babayan.
And now Ruben Vardanyan, speaking “on behalf of all Karabakh Armenians,” said he did not accept the agreements reached by the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Washington and Brussels, including Armenia’s official recognition of the former Nagorno-Karabakh region as part of Azerbaijan. According to the former Moscow oligarch, the Russian peacekeeping forces must be informed that Karabakh Armenians “will never accept” this development.
“We will not submit and will not agree to the steps being taken by Azerbaijan and to the things the Armenian government proposes, because it is unacceptable to the people of Karabakh and to Armenians all over the world,” Ruben Vardanyan said. “The Armenian authorities must understand that the fate of Nagorno-Karabakh cannot be decided by only one group that rules the country.”
According to this new “savior”, the Karabakh Armenians are “100 percent ready to defend their homeland to the end”, and “this is encouraging”.
“I feel responsibility for the faith the people have in me, I feel it every day,” Vardanyan exclaimed, not without pomp. “This is not a question of a savior or an office, this a question of deciding the future of our homeland.”
Vardanyan also believes that his departure from Karabakh will lead to “serious disappointment”.
Was Vardanyan’s statement spontaneous? Hardly. Apparently, certain Russian circles still have certain hopes for him, telling Vardanyan to “stay and keep fighting”.
It is no secret that Russia does not want a West-brokered peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia, seeing it as a direct threat to its interests in the region. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov recently said that the United States is calling on the Armenian authorities to “expel the Russians from the country”.
The expulsion of the Russians from Armenia, that is, the withdrawal of the 102nd military base and border troops of the FSB, can only happen if a peace treaty guaranteed by the West is signed. Russia can use the separatist elements in Karabakh as a tool to prevent the implementation of this scenario. The conclusion here is self-evident.
Farid Isayev
Translated from Haqqin.az
