Wednesday, October 17 2018 13:09

ArmInfo. The statement by  Richard Mills on Karabakh is a statement by the leaving Ambassador.  Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said this in a conversation  with journalists, commenting on the words of US Ambassador to RA  Richard Mills on the need to "return the occupied territories."

"We have repeatedly expressed our position on the Karabakh  settlement, and I don't think that it has undergone changes,"  Pashinyan assured. The other day, Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab  Mnatsakanyan in Luxembourg stated that the status of Nagorno-Karabakh  and its security are priorities for Armenia.  "Karabakh is a party to  the conflict, with a decisive voice in the settlement process, and  should have a more direct involvement," he said.

To recall, US Ambassador Richard Mills who is terminating his  diplomatic mission in Armenia, in an interview with EVN, speaking of  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.  When I  arrived in Armenia, found that most Armenians are categorically  against the return of the occupied territories. It seems to me that  we are taking a step back. My government for many years considered  that these territories were originally taken, to later be used as  part of the formula of "land - 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.