Yerevan /Mediamax/. Public figure Ruben Vardanyan stated that “unfortunately, in the diplomatic process, the Armenian authorities continue to forget the supremacy of the principle of equality and self-determination of peoples.”

Ruben Vardanyan posted on his Facebook page the extract of the Russian President’s speech at the Vladivostok forum on September 7, where Vladimir Putin was speaking about the self-determination of nations.

“What Putin said is very important for Artsakh. In international law, the right of nations to self-determination is a key norm around which the entire Armenian diplomacy on Artsakh should be built up.

It is obvious that the self-determination of Artsakh in 1991 was carried out on the basis of international law and in compliance with all the principles of international law. And there is no contradiction with the principle of territorial integrity here. This was documented by the UN International Court of Justice in the advisory opinion on the Kosovo case in 2010.

In the case of Artsakh, the right to self-determination is the right of the people of Artsakh to live, because the alternative is ethnic cleansing, and there are open threats about it in the official Azerbaijani media.

Unfortunately, in the diplomatic process the Armenian authorities continue to forget the supremacy of the principle of equality and self-determination of peoples, and it is very good that Nikol Pashinyan personally heard about its importance.

The inalienable right of the people living in Artsakh to continue their lives by their own decision can never be disputed,” Ruben Vardanyan wrote.