YEREVAN. – It is simply impossible not to see a contradiction here. Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia stated this at Saturday’s joint news conference with visiting European Council President Charles Michel, and when asked whether he sees a contradiction between the Azerbaijani leadership’s statements on establishing peace, on the one hand, and on the other hand, invading the sovereign territory of the Armenia and organizing provocations on the border.

"We [Armenia] have a clear position on the situation at the borders. I made a proposal at the Security Council session; we are talking about the mirror withdrawal of [both] troops, the return to permanent deployment sites, and now we are negotiating the deployment of Russian border guards or international observers along the border, and carrying out delimitation and demarcation work—under international auspices—of borders.

The meaning of the whole policy of Azerbaijan is that it constantly wants to create a false impression that Armenia is against peace talks, against peace, against delimitation; but the reality is completely different. We have expressed our readiness to act in accordance with the statement made by the [OSCE] Minsk Group Co-Chairs on April 13. We can also say that the international community and our views on the border situation completely coincide because a number of countries have made statements and assessments since May 12 [when Azerbaijani troops started their incursion into Armenia’s territory], and, also, the European Parliament has adopted a resolution in this regard, and the [respective] approaches worded are generally in line with our views," said Nikol Pashinyan.

He drew attention to the fact that when we study the policy of Azerbaijan, we see that it has territorial ambitions towards most of its neighbors. "The issue here is not only about Armenia. They talk about ‘West Azerbaijan,’ they have ‘South Azerbaijan,’ ‘Northwest Azerbaijan,’ and so on. The list of Azerbaijanis is very broad, and I believe this is a threat not only to the security of Armenia, but also to the region in general. This is not just a matter of political rhetoric. When we study what is taught in Azerbaijani schools, we see this aggressive policy towards neighbors. Not to mention the recently opened so-called disgraceful ‘trophy park’ [in the Azerbaijani capital Baku] where children are taken on excursions. This, of course, puts Armenia and the Armenians in the first place among the [Azerbaijani] hatred toward neighbors. I say this to stress our commitment to the establishment of lasting stability, peace in the region.

We are ready to start negotiations on the basis of the principles known to the parties, according to the Co-Chairs' April 13 statement. I am glad that Mr. Michel spoke today about the importance of clarifying and deciding the status of Nagorno-Karabakh because that is the cornerstone of the settlement of the conflict.

We are ready to start work toward the demarcation and delimitation of the borders, in case of the presence of the appropriate conditions," said the Armenian acting prime minister.

He spoke also about the issue of Armenian captives in Azerbaijan, noting: "The presence of captives, in a situation where Azerbaijan has a written obligation to return everyone, certainly considerably undermines the atmosphere of cooperation in the region, and this is an important agenda around which we must combine efforts."