Rubinyan: Focus on Results, Not Rhetoric

The Vice President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, Ruben Rubinyan, is convinced that there will be provocative statements on the path to peace with Azerbaijan, but it is important to focus not on them, but on real, tangible achievements. He said this in a conversation with journalists in parliament, referring to the recent statements by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who claimed that on the maps of Tsarist Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, most of the toponyms in the current territory of Armenia have Azerbaijani origins.

Rubinyan noted that he has already responded to these baseless claims with a post, but emphasized that a distinction must be made between rhetoric and real processes. According to him, after the Washington agreements of August 8, a certain positive change in emphasis is noticeable in the statements coming from Azerbaijan, although there are still deconstructive expressions.

"If we go back, we will not see a situation that is in any way unfavorable for us in terms of toponyms; we will see a very favorable situation. But we should not go back; we must go forward. That is the way to strengthen and maintain peace," said Rubinyan.

As a real result of the peace process, the Vice President of the National Assembly pointed to the import of Russian and Kazakh wheat to Armenia via the railway passing through the territory of Azerbaijan.

"This is a historic event. The last time something like this happened was probably in 1991 or 1992, that is, before the active phase of the war," he noted, recalling that for the last 30 years, Armenia's only railway connection has been with Georgia.