Armenia has not recognized the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan with the inclusion of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), analyst Alexander Iskandaryan told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

According to him, so far there is an exchange of cunning words, as president of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev never uttered the words “86,600 square kilometers” in terms of his country’s surface area, while Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan uttered the phrase “29,800 square kilometers” many times in terms of his country’s surface area even though those 29,800 kilometers no longer exist.

Iskandaryan called this a certain process where the Armenian elites see the negotiation process as a way to reduce risks, and, in his view, this is the problem.

"If we [i.e. Armenia] recognize the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, and Azerbaijan recognizes the territorial integrity of Armenia, then at least the pressure on Armenia will decrease or disappear. But I'm not sure about that. Are there few countries recognized in the world, from Syria to Ukraine? Azerbaijan is putting pressure, not because it is right, but because it has that opportunity," he emphasized.

As per Iskandaryan, in order to stop this pressure, Azerbaijan's respective opportunities need to decrease.

“I am not saying that nothing is being done [in this regard] in Armenia. I see that it is already difficult for Azerbaijan in the small clashes that happen from time to time. That is, some work is being done at that level, but small. There is no big one yet," added the analyst.

He said it is extremely dangerous to take any drastic steps in order to increase the risks. Alexander Iskandaryan noted the importance of increasing the subjectivity of the state, and said the Armenian state should have the opportunity not only to request, but also to offer something interesting.