Many issues can be resolved in the trilateral and even bilateral formats. This is what Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan said during the part of the trilateral meeting of the leaders of the Russian Federation, Armenia and Azerbaijan that was open for the mass media.

Expressing gratitude for the organization of the meeting and the invitation, Pashinyan first on behalf of the Armenian people and then personally expressed condolences over the explosion that took place at a mine in the Russian Federation.

“Your personal role and the role of Russia in stopping the war last year is obvious, and after November 9, Russian peacekeeping forces were already deployed in Nagorno-Karabakh and along the Lachin corridor. It is obvious that Russian peacekeepers and the Russian Federation play a key role in stabilizing the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and the region. I want to emphasize that, unfortunately, the situation is not as stable as we would like it to be. After November 9 last year, several dozen people have already died on both sides, incidents have been recorded in Nagorno-Karabakh, and since May 12 this year we have an active crisis situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. Our assessment is that the Azerbaijani troops invaded the sovereign territory of Armenia. The border between Armenia and Azerbaijan is neither demarcated nor delimitated, but there is a state border, and that is the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia,” the PM said.

Pashinyan also disagreed with the view of President of Azerbaijan that all the points in the trilateral statement have been implemented, except for the unblocking of communications. “You know, and we have discussed personally and on the phone several times that there is an issue of hostages, prisoners of war and persons deprived of liberty. This is a major humanitarian issue,” the Prime Minister said, adding that they have gathered to discuss not only the problems, but also solve the current issues.

“I have also stated several times that Armenia is ready to launch the process of demarcation and delimitation of borders. The unblocking of transport communications is also very important. We are sincerely interested in the solution to these issues,” Pashinyan assured.

Stating the Armenian side’s position, the Prime Minister emphasized that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict needs to be settled within the scope of the Co-Chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group. According to him, many issues can and need to be discussed and resolved in the trilateral and even bilateral formats.