YEREVAN. – Armenia should have started the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’s (NKR) independence recognition process a long time ago, NKR former FM Arman Melikyan stated during a press conference on Saturday.     

“This will apply some pressure on the Azerbaijani party. This is not a comprehensive recognition, but it is an alarm to the Azerbaijani party that the [NKR recognition] process has commenced, [and] consequently, Azerbaijan needs to make certain revisions in [its] political approach,” Melikyan proposed.   

Also, he noted that he does not expect too much from the Armenian and Azerbaijani FMs’ meeting, which is expected to be held Saturday in Paris. As per Melikyan, this talk will be primarily devoted to surmounting the situation that has been created following the release of Ramil Safarov, the Azerbaijani army officer who had killed with an axe Armenian soldier Gurgen Margaryan in Budapest. 

“I don’t think that by jumping into the arms of Russia and receiving the liberated territories, or NK, Azerbaijan will not attempt to cut itself from Russia again. This is apparent. Azerbaijan has very serious short-term problems to resolve with the Russians, and its interest in the Russians ends with that. [And] Our task is not to allow these short-term Russian-Azerbaijani cooperation plans to impair our interests,” Arman Melikyan added.