Ambassador Mills spoke of the need to return the "occupied  territories"

ArmInfo. Ambassador Richard Milliz, who is completing his diplomatic mission in Armenia, in an interview with EVN, speaking on the Karabakh settlement, made  remarkable statements.

In particular, referring to ways to resolve the conflict, he  emphasized the need to return the "occupied territories": "The  settlement of the conflict is impossible without the return of a  certain part of the occupied territories. The issue of the return of  the occupied territories is one of the fundamental points of the  Madrid principles. He expressed surprise at the fact that there is  practically no public discourse on this topic in Armenia. "When I  first came to Armenia, I found that most Armenians were categorically  against the return of the occupied territories. It seems to me that  we are taking a step back. My government believed for many years that  these territories were originally taken to be later used in the  framework of the formula "the land is in exchange for peace." And I  was very surprised when I discovered that this formula does not find  public support in Armenia, "the diplomat said.  He also stressed that  the April war of 2016 consolidated this position of the Armenians  even more. "Now it will be much more difficult to resolve this issue,  but the harsh reality is that any settlement requires the return of a  certain part of the occupied territories," the diplomat said. At the  same time, he stressed that the status quo no longer proceeds from  the interests of Armenia, since in the context of closed borders and  limited human and material resources, corruption risks increase.  "Corruption is not born and thrives, because people are bad, but  because there are appropriate conditions for this," the diplomat  said.