Becoming a Russian Oligarch After Rebirth
Chapter 1157 - 978: Bold Plan_2

Chapter 1157: Chapter 978: Bold Plan_2

After the breakdown of the Former Soviet, Azerbaijan became an independent country, and naturally, this piece of land also belonged to Azerbaijan.

This point was also recognized by other countries internationally, and even Russia had had no conflict with Azerbaijan over this piece of land.

One would think that the ownership of such a clearly defined piece of land should not be controversial.

But the problem lies in the fact that over eighty percent of the inhabitants of the Nagorno-Karabakh region are of Armenian ethnicity...

Therefore, since the Former Soviet Era, local authorities had submitted several applications, requesting to incorporate the Nagorno-Karabakh region into Armenia, as naturally, there is a closer kinship among people of the same ethnicity.

But these requests were all rejected by the Former Soviet.

After the breakdown of the Former Soviet, no one took charge of this issue anymore, and the people in Nagorno-Karabakh started to make noises about holding some kind of referendum to secede from Azerbaijan and join Armenia.

Because of this, a war broke out between the two countries!

At that time, Armenia had achieved certain advantages on the battlefield, but they did not fully control the Nagorno-Karabakh region, and subsequently, both sides ended up in a stalemate, with neither able to decisively defeat the other.

After all, both countries were not wealthy and had relatively small populations. Plus, with Russia mediating later on, a full-scale war was avoided.

That’s the gist of the situation.

Strictly speaking, Armenia was not the one with the justified position, as historically, the Nagorno-Karabakh region had never belonged to them.

However, the inhabitants living there are indeed predominantly ethnic Armenians—it can’t be said that their intentions were without foundation...

......

After Narban finished explaining, Wang Ye nodded in sympathy and asked him, "So, if both sides were to negotiate, what kind of outcome would you hope for?"

Narban spoke righteously, "I hope that both sides will respect the will of the people of the Nagorno-Karabakh region. If they wish to stay in Country A, we have no objections. However, if they want to return to our country, I hope Country A will not hinder them anymore!"

It was clear that the majority of the residents of the Nagorno-Karabakh region were Armenians, and if they were to act according to their wishes, then they would inevitably return to Armenia.

And therein lies the problem—Azerbaijan was unwilling...

Wang Ye frowned slightly. If Armenia’s attitude were really so resolute, there wouldn’t be much room for maneuvering in the matter.

However, he had prepared a plan before coming.

He said with a smile, "Could it be understood that the conflict between your side and Country A arose out of consideration for the Armenian people living in the Nagorno-Karabakh region?"

Narban was taken aback for a moment, then immediately nodded, "Of course!"

He could only respond to the question that way, as that was also their country’s rationale for taking action.

Wang Ye nodded and said,

"Then this problem can be resolved as well. Since you want the people and Country A wants the land,

I, as the mediator, propose a solution that could accommodate both concerns.

That is, allow the people of the Nagorno-Karabakh region to make a voluntary choice.

If they wish to return to your country, then they should be resettled from the Nagorno-Karabakh region into your territory, and your country should take care of them properly.

Those who do not wish to return can continue to stay in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which naturally would still belong to Country A.

With this approach, isn’t everyone’s needs served?

You would have your ethnic compatriots back, and those people wouldn’t have to worry about being persecuted if they continue to stay in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

And the people remaining in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, being consistent with Country A, wouldn’t be mistreated by them.

In the future, both sides would no longer have disputes over this piece of land."

The solution he proposed completely dumbfounded Narban.

Because previously, no one had ever suggested such a plan, with everyone implicitly assuming that "Nagorno-Karabakh" encompassed both the land and the people living on it!

But now Wang Ye had distinguished between the two...

Indeed, with regard to just the land of Nagorno-Karabakh, there was no controversy—it belonged to Azerbaijan, and it didn’t even share a border with Armenia!

Looking at the residents, the majority indeed were Armenians, but these people had been relocated from other places, not native to the land.

Originally, the indigenous people of the Nagorno-Karabakh region were Persians!

It was only afterward that Tsarist Russia expelled the indigenous Persian inhabitants and moved a number of Armenians over.

Now then, the land would go to Azerbaijan, and the people to Armenia, a perfect solution!

......

Narban’s mind couldn’t catch up at the moment.

The outcome he wanted most, of course, was to get both the people and the land back!

If he couldn’t get the land, what was the point of having so many people return? After all, even though the Nagorno-Karabakh region didn’t have a high population, it still boasted one or two hundred thousand inhabitants, and the cost of resettling them would be a huge sum of money!

Given the small size of Armenia’s finances, their finance revenue was limited. To resettle so many people, they would probably go bankrupt...

He stuttered, "This... it seems somewhat... unreasonable, right?"

Wang Ye furrowed his brows, his expression growing stern as he stared unblinkingly at Narban and pressed, "Please tell me what part is unreasonable? Could it be that you are after the land rather than your so-called kinspeople?!"

This question was a trap. Although Narban thought exactly that, he absolutely couldn’t voice it openly.

He quickly shook his head in denial:

"No, no!

That’s certainly not it

! It’s just...

It’s just that suddenly moving back so many people, we don’t have the financial strength to settle them, which would lead to a humanitarian crisis!

Yes, that would cause even greater trouble and instability!"

He felt he had found a reasonable excuse. It wasn’t enough just to move the people out; the key was to settle them properly!

And given Armenia’s financial situation, clearly, they wouldn’t be able to handle this challenging task...

But since Wang Ye dared to propose such a bold plan, how could he not be prepared in advance?!

He smiled slightly, and said in a calm and unhurried tone:

"I’ve considered this problem as well.

If your country alone were to take care of resettling those people, it would indeed be challenging.

Therefore, I also have a supplementary plan, which was originally prepared for Azerbaijan, but I can reveal it to you now.

Since Azerbaijan would get that piece of land, they obviously can’t contribute nothing.

So, we’ll see how many prefer to return to your Armenia and calculate based on the number of returning people.

For every repatriated person, Country A will have to pay your country ten thousand US dollars in resettlement fees!

If two hundred thousand people come back, that’s a total of two billion US dollars in resettlement fees!

With that amount of money, your country should be able to resettle those people, right?"

Narban was speechless.

One or two hundred thousand people weren’t a particularly large or small number.

If it really came to resettlement, they might not even need so much money...

Moreover, though Armenia may be small, its population is even smaller, so it certainly isn’t true that there’s no place to settle these people.

At worst, they could allocate some funds to build a large resettlement area on the outskirts of the capital, with all apartments and give each family one free set.

That definitely wouldn’t need ten thousand US dollars per person in resettlement fees, and there would be a considerable amount left over!

Of course, this would lead to employment issues later on, but that was something Armenia would have to consider for itself; it couldn’t use this as a condition anymore.

Narban’s face turned beet-red, and he failed to utter a word for a long while.

He truly hadn’t expected Mikhail to play his cards so irregularly!

Russia had also mediated a few times before, but the talks had always revolved around who Nagorno-Karabakh belonged to. No one had ever suggested splitting Nagorno-Karabakh into two parts for a "people-land separation"...

After pondering for quite some time, he said, "Then can Country A agree to this plan?"

Wang Ye laughed, "As long as you accept, Country A must accept! Otherwise, they would be threatening the security and stability of the region, and they will be responsible for the consequences!"

His words carried an implicit threat.

Clearly, Wang Ye was also warning Armenia that he had now proposed a solution that could satisfy both sides. If anyone was to act unreasonably again, then they shouldn’t blame him for being unkind!

As for what being unkind entailed, perhaps neither Armenia nor Country A wanted to test it out...