YEREVAN. – If we are discussing the Artsakh issue, definitely, the people of Artsakh resolve the Artsakh issue. Have we asked them that we are saying whether or not they discussed any documents? Mikayel Melkumyan, a member of the opposition Prosperous Armenia faction in the National Assembly, said this at a briefing with journalists in parliament on Wednesday, referring to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's statement on Tuesday.

"Apparently, it’s either the ‘Madrid’ or the ‘Kazan’ principle, which is incomprehensible and unacceptable; this is just a document to negotiate, not to provide a solution,” he added. "We need to differentiate between two things: principles, which are just to lead the negotiation process, and a way to solve the problem. At the moment, the resolution to the issue is in its not being resolved. If we can't resolve at once the issue of recognizing Artsakh's independence, let there be different types of documents which, I repeat, are only for negotiations."

And asked whether PM Nikol Pashinyan should make a clarifying statement, Melkumyan responded as follows, in particular: "It's just that the moment is the issue of the right moment, so that the other one doesn't appear after something else. We have stable relations with Russia and they must be maintained, especially at this phase of crisis."