Meduza news website obtained a manual that the presidential administration sent to employees of state and Kremlin-loyal media on the evening of 19 September. There, the Kremlin recommends blaming Armenia and Western countries for the aggravation of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. The emphasis must be placed on the fact that “the Armenian leadership recognized the sovereignty of Azerbaijan over Karabakh,” and as confirmation of this thesis, the Presidential Administration advises citing statements by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan made in October 2022. However, then Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev directly spoke only about respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of their countries.

The text of the manual says:

Most likely, the Armenian Prime Minister was directed to make this statement by his Western “partners”, who should fully share responsibility for the consequences with him. The decision of the Armenian leadership, which itself radically changed the status of Karabakh, became a signal for Azerbaijan to act; now Baku perceives the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh as its internal matter.

The Kremlin recommends describing the status of Russian peacekeepers as “observers,” while pro-government media workers should tell about the peacekeepers’ assistance in “evacuating civilians.” Separately, the compilers of the manual advise mentioning that people find “shelter” in an Orthodox church located on the base of the Russian peacekeeping contingent.

These theses have already appeared in the material of Komsomolskaya Pravda. The publication writes that “Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan agrees that Karabakh is Azerbaijan.” “The Armenian people would like peace in Karabakh and prosperity in Armenia. The government in Yerevan, judging by its political steps, dreams of getting rid of Karabakh as an unnecessary burden and setting sail to the West,” KP clarifies. The Lenta.ru article states that “the Karabakh issue, in fact, is becoming an internal matter of Azerbaijan.”