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Retired Russian Foreign Ministry senior advisor Alexander Ananiev made some revelations about the developments in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) in 2023 and the secret meetings held before Azerbaijan’s attack and military takeover of Artsakh.

Opposition MP Tigran Abrahamyan on Saturday quoted him as saying in a recent interview that Russian, U.S. and EU officials met in Turkey shortly before the start of hostilities in Artsakh in mid-September.

The diplomat stated that Russia attempted to prevent the Azerbaijani offensive, but the U.S. opposed it.

“The Russian diplomat asserts that the Armenian authorities were aware of Azerbaijan's plans [to attack Artsakh], but they were told to say that Armenia would not respond to it in any way,” Abrahamyan wrote on Facebook.

“Ananiev’s assertion that Russia was trying to prevent escalation in no way justifies the country’s failure to prevent a full-scale war against Artsakh or to stop it at an earlier stage. When it comes to the Armenian authorities, they have admitted seeking Artsakh’s surrender back in 2018.

“In general, international actors failed to take any strong action to prevent the blockade of Artsakh, deter Azerbaijan and stop the forced displacement of Artsakh Armenians.

“Now everyone is trying to justify themselves, shift the blame onto each other and create an impression that they are fighting for the restoration of the Artsakh people’s rights or seek to resolve humanitarian problems. Actually, with their tacit consent, Azerbaijan first launched a large-scale offensive against Artsakh in 2020, resorted to military aggression against Armenia in 2021-2022 and fully occupied Artsakh by force in 2023,” the MP wrote.