Serzh Sargsyan sent an open letter to Biden, Putin and Macron

The third president of RA, Serzh Sargsyan, addressed an open letter to US President Joe Biden, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and French President Emmanuel Macron.

"An open letter to

US President Mr. Joe Biden,

the President of the Russian Federation Mr. Vladimir Putin,

French President Mr. Emmanuel Macron,

Honorable Mr. Presidents,

A few days ago, three-year-old Leo and six-year-old Gita were strangled to death in one of the villages of the Martakert region of Artsakh, on the way to find their mother who had gone to the city on foot to look for food for them.

The siege of Artsakh, which has lasted for more than seven months, has begun to take lives of adults and children, ordinary people, whose only sin is that they were born and live on their grandfathers' land and love life. We are grateful to all influential countries and international organizations for making clear statements about this reality. They are of great importance for the people of Artsakh who are struggling to live. But, unfortunately, they did not save the lives of little Leo and Gita and, most frighteningly, they may not save the lives of many other children and adults, not in the abstract future, but tomorrow morning.

Today, the physical existence of 120,000 Artsakh residents is literally at risk. We have talked with each of you on many occasions about the Armenian Genocide that happened in 1915 and its consequences. Today, 108 years later, we are very close to repeating those horrific events with modern methods.

Mr. Presidents,

I appeal to you, first of all, as leaders of the co-chair countries of the OSCE Minsk Group, as leaders who personally know what the negotiation process for the resolution of the Artsakh problem was like until 2018, when our society made an emotional choice and handed over power to a figure who had no compunction with the perception of the state. I understand that many, many people got the opportunity to try to solve the Artsakh problem by taking advantage of this man's illogical steps that have nothing to do with the interests of his own country.

But it is a fact that both the issue has not been resolved and the problems are getting much deeper, and that person today clearly does not have the vote of our people to recognize Artsakh as part of any other country, and the people of Artsakh absolutely do not have the vote to decide their own fate.

I appeal to you, as the leaders of the countries who have an unquestionable institutional memory in the matter of Artsakh. Today, in contrast to the Armenian government, there are serious specialists and connoisseurs of the Artsakh negotiation process in your systems who know all the nuances and are well aware of all the stages.

I am addressing you as a former colleague, a person whose goals and principles you are well acquainted with. I am applying in this format because now I have no means of direct communication with you, formats of visits and private conversations, there are no and very weak party channels, because the opposition party officials in our country are either under strong repression or are simply imprisoned.

I would like to say that what is happening now in Artsakh is leading to a terrible disaster.

I am asking to give the people of Artsakh a chance to live. It is a great tragedy for me that years ago we were discussing solutions by which the people of Artsakh would live with dignity in their country, now we are talking about their right to live, at least the opportunity to live.

We appreciate all of your efforts to resolve the issue. But what is happening today will not lead to the kind of solutions that you honestly imagine. Direct negotiations between an experienced dictator and a frivolous, incompetent one cannot end at any logical point.

Each satisfied demand of the dictating party will give birth to a new one, even more difficult to satisfy, and all this will continue indefinitely and will be accompanied by great disasters. Being silent or not devoting much more time to the issue of Artsakh today means that very soon your countries will have to start devoting time to the "issue of Armenia".

This is a very visible scenario in the case of an incompetent negotiator, especially since a significant part of the sovereign territory of RA is already occupied in front of everyone's eyes.

I am asking you, above all else, stop the humanitarian disaster in Artsakh. I believe you can do it. Make the dictator open the way to life: a fascist who made Armenian genocide a way of life cannot always disregard the clear messages of the most serious international structures and countries. Stop the scourge, ensure the basic human living conditions of Artsakh residents, guarantee them, and then proceed to efforts to find diplomatic solutions, I am asking you.

Tomorrow may be late.

Kind regards,

Serzh Sargsyan, the third president of RA."