May 9 will always be our holiday, our victories will always be remembered, and new victories will be crafted; I am convinced of that. This is one of the important days of Artsakh, I am happy that the youth are standing here; you are the ones who started this. Ruben Vardanyan, the former Minister of State of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), said this in his remarks during Tuesday’s rally in capital Stepanakert.

"I am confident that only you can craft a dignified future for yourself and for the whole of Artsakh. We have always been a dignified person, a dignified person, and a dignified citizen of Artsakh, and we will keep our dignity despite all difficulties. We all had drawn our red lines together and said that it is unacceptable for the people of Artsakh. There are six of them. On April 23, Azerbaijan violated that red line by setting a checkpoint [at the Lachin corridor]," said Vardanyan.

According to him, the only option left is to fight.

"There is a need to fight, there is no other option. Otherwise, you become an undignified person on whom one can wipe feet and pass. The red line should be clear for all of us because we have no right to have our passports checked by another state. No one should limit our free entry and exit to Armenia.

"We [i.e., Artsakh] have been under [Azerbaijani] siege for 149 days, we have no [natural] gas, electricity. You know the situation of the Sarsang Reservoir, we have a lot of problems, but we endure and do not get depressed. There can be no question of reintegration [with Azerbaijan] in this way; this is reoccupation [by Azerbaijan]. Let’s say no to reoccupation! We are defending our homes, our graves, our right to live on our land. We don't want to attack anyone, we just want to live peacefully, happily on our land.

"We are ready for negotiations; but they cannot be on an Azerbaijani basis, they must be [based] on mutual respect. The negotiations should take place when we can tell the world: we, as independent Artsakh, can sit and speak with [our] neighbors.

"Since 1988, we have had an objective: to have a free, safe, happy and Armenian Artsakh; and that objective has not changed. Today, these youth say: ‘Solve the problems. [If] you cannot solve [them], we will solve [them], we will solve [them], we will solve [them] how we can. But we have no other way,’" stated the former minister of state of Artsakh.