Armenia’s PM provides details on non-implemented visit of ex-presidents Levon Ter-Petrosyan and Robert Kocharyan to Moscow

On October 20, the second and third presidents of Artsakh, Arkadi Ghukasyan and Bako Sahakyan, proposed to arrange a meeting of the current and former leaders of Armenia and Artsakh, which would be an expression of national unity during the days of the, Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan wrote on Facebook on Monday, adding that after some discussion, he agreed.

“We agreed that when they signal that the retired presidents of Armenia are ready, I will arrange the meeting. Arkadi Ghukasyan and Bako Sahakyan said at our next meeting that a nuance was added to the idea: Levon Ter-Petrosyan and Robert Kocharyan want to go to Moscow, have high-level meetings there, and our meeting will be organized after their return and will become a kind of information combination, an event of more informed discussion of the situation,” Pashinyan wrote, adding that he was not against the idea.

“I would even provide the state plane, let them leave, have meetings, return. The retired presidents of Artsakh, however, raised another issue after my consent. They said that it is necessary for me to mediate with RF President Vladimir Putin for him to receive L. Ter-Petrosyan and R. Kocharyan as special envoys.

I responded as follows: I am in constant contact with the President of Russia. There are days I talk to him on the phone five or six times. Now if he asks me, what do you have to say that you cannot tell me directly and you want to say it through special envoys, what should I answer?

The same question arose also in the case of Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, when the retired presidents of Artsakh said that our Foreign Minister also mediate to Lavrov that he receive our special envoys. Our Foreign Minister is in constant contact with the RF Foreign Minister; their meeting is scheduled in Moscow. If Lavrov asks our Foreign Minister the same question, what should he answer?

I offered another option: To quickly arrange Ter-Petrosyan and Kocharyan’s ceremonial visit to Moscow as retired presidents, where they will be the guest of retired RF President Dmitry Medvedev, who is also the deputy chairman of the RF SC Security Council, and within the framework of the visit try to arrange courteous meetings with the RF President, Foreign Minister, and other high-ranking officials.

Arkadi Ghukasyan and Bako Sahakyan left, promising to discuss this option with Ter-Petrosyan and Kocharyan. It turned out that the latter are not much interested in option I suggested. Bako Sahakyan, unexpected for me, stated that Ter-Petrosyan and Kocharyan have an agreement to meet with Sergey Lavrov.

In that case, what do they want from me? If they have an arrangement, let them go to Moscow, meet. It turned out that the issue is R. Kocharyan's passport, which is in court. I said let them submit a petition to the court, I will ask that the prosecution does not to object to the return of the passport. That's what happened; the court returned Kocharyan's passport, but Ter-Petrosyan and Kocharyan did not head for Moscow," Pashinyan wrote.

It was reported that Kocharyan was to head to Moscow for negotiations but tested positive for coronavirus.