Wednesday, May 11 2022 20:08

ArmInfo.Azerbaijan continues to pursue an aggressive policy towards Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan said at the Netherlands Institute of International Relations -Clingendael.   Pashinyan recalled that there is a Russian peacekeeping contingent in  Nagorno-Karabakh.

According to him, the main task of Azerbaijani  diplomacy in recent months is to convince the EU that Armenia is a  pro- Russian country, and the Russian Federation that Armenia is a  pro-Western country. "Sometimes they said that the government of  Armenia is appointed by the West through the color revolution, which  is acting against Russia," he said. According to the prime minister,  this is aimed at creating a negative perception of Armenia both in  the West and Russia.

Touching upon the remark that Armenia is trying to pursue a  multilateral policy, the Prime Minister emphasized that a  multilateral policy is also pursued towards Armenia. "We not only  have to pursue a multilateral policy, but we also  have be able to  manage the risks arising from the multilateral policy pursued against  us," Pashinyan said, adding that Armenia is pursuing a balanced  policy based on Armenia's national interests.

Pashinyan also touched upon the issue of the return of Armenian  prisoners held by Baku. He expressed regret that, despite the  statement of November 9, 2020, in response to the calls of many  international organizations, the citizens of the Republic of Armenia,  taken prisoner during the 44-day war, have not yet been returned.  "This is the practice of using people for political purposes and  turning them into an object of trade, which is very reprehensible,"  Nikol Pashinyan said.

The Prime Minister stressed that it was precisely in order to avoid  such a bargain that he decided to transfer to Azerbaijan all the maps  of minefields at his disposal. The Armenian side hoped that this  humanitarian step would be followed by another humanitarian step.  Nevertheless, today at least 38 of our prisoners of war remain in  Azerbaijan, Pashinyan noted. "Attempts are constantly being made to  make this process the subject of bidding on a variety of topics. By  the way, the last time in the presence of the President of the  European Council, the President of Azerbaijan promised to release  another group of prisoners of war, but this has not happened yet. I  think it is impossible to talk about peace, ignoring the humanitarian  side of the issue we have shown it in practice," Nikol Pashinyan  said.

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia once again confirmed  the readiness of the RA for a peaceful agenda and delimitation and  demarcation of the borders with Azerbaijan. " Azerbaijan presented  its views on the normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations,  where there are five main points. This refers to the mutual  recognition of territorial integrity, demarcation of borders,  delimitation, renunciation of territorial claims against each other.  We, considering these proposals, saw that in reality there is nothing  unacceptable in them, however, we noticed that these items are not  included in the whole agenda of the relations.We filled out this  agenda, which includes the issue of security, rights and the final  status of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh. On April 6, through the  mediation of the President of the Council of the EU Charles Michel,  we discussed this issue with the President of Azerbaijan: "However, I  must note that recently there have been statements from Azerbaijan  and an attempt is being made to create the impression that only  Azerbaijan's proposals will be on the table. At least, this does not  correspond to the agreements reached in Brussels. Today I must  confirm position that we are ready to negotiate based on these  principles, despite the fact that nothing has changed in the planned  process. In the near future, a meeting of our demarcation  representatives is planned, and a meeting of foreign ministers will  take place. We have gone through very difficult chalanges, but today  I can say that I have a deep conviction that we are on the right  path," Nikol Pashinyan said.