Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan does not see any contradiction in the fact that Artsakh expects Armenia to defend it on international platforms, while Armenia is sure that Artsakh should negotiate with Azerbaijan separately. If there is a contradiction, it was the result of a very big mistake when Artsakh dropped out of the negotiation process in 1998, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told Public Television of Armenia.

"A catastrophic mistake took place, from the disastrous consequences of which we are suffering to this day. Since 2018, my position has been that Artsakh should be the main speaker on the issue of settling the Karabakh conflict and protecting the Karabakh Armenians. I continue to think that yes, Nagorno-Karabakh representatives should be a party to the conversation. That's the right position. I think that's the best way to protect the rights of our compatriots in Nagorno-Karabakh. I am sure of that. In all the talks I defend that position," Pashinyan said.

Responding to the comment that Armenia is then left out of all this, the cabinet chief said: "Armenia cannot drop out of the conversation, even if it wants to, it cannot, because Armenia is a subject of international law and cannot drop out of any issue in terms of regional and international relations.

Of course, the Karabakh issue has a special meaning for us, and we are defending the interests of our compatriots in Nagorno-Karabakh by all means. It is expressed in the fact that after the disastrous war of 2020 we do everything to ensure that our compatriots in Nagorno-Karabakh continue to live there.

The key to the success of our compatriots in Nagorno-Karabakh is living, creating, creating in NK. Yerevan creates all possible conditions for this. The budget of NK has never been as big as today, it has never received such support from the Armenian budget.

As for the negotiation process, Pashinyan said: "Yes, we think that there should be a conversation, dialogue and negotiations between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh. If NK hadn't dropped out of the negotiation process in 1998, the Karabakh issue would have been resolved long ago."