YEREVAN. - There is no foreign pressure on Armenia regarding the recognition of Artsakh.

Secretary of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) Gagik Melikyan told Armenian News – NEWS.am, referring to the comments that the recognition of Artsakh was withdrawn from the agenda of Armenian authorities under Russia’s pressure.

“There is no pressure on the recognition of Artsakh. It was announced that this issue will be discussed in case Azerbaijan re-launches large-scale military actions against the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR/Artsakh),”the MP said.

Referring to the opinion of some politicians that it is high time to recognize independence of Artsakh, Gagik Melikyan said: “Those politicians make logical or illogical conclusions based on the information at their disposal. And we are speaking based on the information at our disposal and discussions, as well as foreign and domestic incentives. The government conclusion also includes the precise idea that the recognition issue will be discussed depending on the developments between NKR and Armenia. This depends on the situational changes, military actions and foreign incentives.”

Asked what will happen if Armenia recognizes Artsakh at this stage, the MP noted that Armenia stands for talks and not war.

“We have clarified that we are for peace and talks. We have announced three preconditions for the resumption thereof, which will be followed by further proposals on what will underlie the talks according to priority.  As mentioned earlier, the priority issue is the recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh by Azerbaijan, which should be followed by the international process of NKR recognition.”

According to Melikyan, the work on signing an agreement on mutual military assistance between Armenia and Arstakh is underway.