During the first meeting in the ‘3+2’ format, issues related to the general principles of the future meetings were discussed. This is what Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan stated during his online press conference today.

“As our representative put it, overall, we have a good impression of the first meeting, but this doesn’t mean that the risks that we talk about don’t exist. However, in general, the ‘3+2’ format corresponds to the positions stated in the government’s program. If Armenia is negotiating with Azerbaijan in a bilateral format, it will also be negotiating with Turkey, the dialogue with Iran is permanent, the Russian Federation is Armenia’s permanent partner, and it would be illogical to not want to speak in that environment,” Pashinyan said.

According to Pashinyan, there are psychological issues, starting from the rotation of the venue of the meetings.

“In principle, it would be logical for the first meeting to be held in Moscow, and then in other capitals. Of course, there are psychological, political and moral complexities for the capitals of Armenia, Turkey and Azerbaijan, but, at the end of the day, where do we want to go in terms of the military? This is a conversation that we need to participate in so that we can maximally protect our country’s interests. If we see that the format doesn’t correspond to Armenia’s interests, we won’t participate in the process. The initial impressions are good, but this doesn’t mean that the next meetings will be the same,” Pashinyan concluded.