YEREVAN – Azerbaijan is intensively preparing for war over the last 25 years. Nikol Pashinyan said this at Wednesday’s major press conference on the occasion of his one year in office as Prime Minister of Armenia.

He noted this when asked how real he considered the possibility of resumption of hostilities by Azerbaijan, given the Azerbaijani armed forces’ recent “activeness” on the line of contact.

“Azerbaijan is intensively preparing for war over the last 25 years,” he said. “If we are having shots fired in an every-day mode, (...) it means we are in a war, or a semi-war situation.

“But I want to say that, overall, stability and tranquility are maintained. (...) ways of communication are established between me and the president of Azerbaijan; and now, in this period I’m trying to understand what’s happening (...). And I hope we will succeed in understanding this situation (...). And I wish a speedy recovery to our wounded soldiers.”

And asked whether he shares the analysts’ view that Azerbaijan intends to resume military operations, Pashinyan reiterated that Azerbaijan is intensively preparing for military operations over the past 25 years.

“Nothing has changed in that respect; and as long as the matter is not settled, it will not change,” he added, in particular. “All parties [to the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict] should remain faithful to the Vienna statement, and we have recorded there that the ceasefire regime should be maintained and strengthened.

“The Azerbaijani side also provides information that certain incidents are recorded, there are mutual accusations, and we must try to understand it in working order. We are trying to ensure communication through the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, and as a result, we will make our conclusions.”