ArmInfo. The last document, which was presented at the negotiating table on the Karabakh settlement, which was inherited from the previous authorities, did not touch upon the status of Artsakh at all, it only spoke about the need for the return of territories controlled by the Armenian side to Azerbaijan. RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced this from the rostrum of the Armenian parliament.
"I officially make this statement as the Prime Minister of Armenia," Pashinyan said, adding that initially there were not a single document in the negotiations on the Karabakh settlement where it would be clearly stated about the status of Artsakh or whether it would be guaranteed in the future. "By 2018, the issue of NKR status at the negotiating table was generally put on the back burner," he stressed. The head of the parliamentary commission on foreign affairs, deputy chairman of the Republican Party Armen Ashotyan did not agree with this statement. He said that the last document officially presented by the OSCE Minsk Group clearly stated the status of Nagorno-Karabakh as a variant of the final decision of the conflict. "If indeed the positions of the Armenian side were so defeatist, and at the table there was such a document, then why did Azerbaijan take so much time, why did not he immediately agree to a variant of the Karabakh settlement so advantageous for him?" asked Ashotyan, asking the prime minister to present the document, which he announced from the rostrum of the parliament.
This statement aroused the indignation of Pashinyan, who stressed: "If I am a prime minister, I say that such a document exists, you should take this into account." And when I imagine it, I will decide myself, but I'm not so cruel as to immediately introduce you all the subtleties of the times of your rule, in which case you may need psychiatric help. "
Further, Pashinyan stressed that his position on the Karabakh settlement remains unchanged, the issue of the status of Artsakh, which should be determined in a nationwide referendum, is top priority, and this can only be achieved by involving Stepanakert at the negotiating table. "I have already said that I am the prime minister of Armenia, and I can conduct negotiations on its behalf, and on behalf of Artsakh the authorities of this republic should speak. Yes, of course, if the purpose of the talks is only for the sake of their holding, and not the settlement of the issue, in the current format, but until the talks are held in the current format, the conflict should not be settled soon, "Pashinyan said, adding that there is nothing sensational in his words. "After all, the Minsk mediators repeatedly said that the Karabakh conflict should be settled on the basis of free expression of the will of the Artsakh people, which means that the co-chairs themselves recognize that Artsakh is a party to the negotiations, which should sooner or later join them," Pashinyan said, adding that there was not a single proposal on the negotiations, which the Armenian side would refuse. "I am fully prepared for the talks, RA Minister of Foreign Affairs Zohrab Mnatsakanyan is fully involved in this process," Pashinyan said, stressing that for the most part the militaristic rhetoric is hampered by the Baku process. Referring to the shelling of Armenian border villages by Azerbaijan, Pashinyan said that the Armenian Armed Forces reacted quickly and reacted to the provocations of Baku.