We have never been against negotiations or dialogue with Baku. But those same negotiations and dialogue are not conducted just for the sake of negotiation or dialogue; they should specify something, ensure some progress. David Babayan, advisor to the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) President and former foreign minister of Artsakh, told this to Armenian News-NEWS.am.

"If the problem is humanitarian, there is no question here because since 2020 there have been regular discussions with the Azerbaijani side on these issues, there have been search operations, someone got lost, etc. But Azerbaijan is now trying to impose another topic and another format on us. Sometimes it's better not to hold a dialogue than to hold a dialogue because after that a more complicated and worse situation may arise," he said.

According to Babayan, there are conflicting views about the future.

"Azerbaijan says: you are not a [negotiating] party, there is no Artsakh, you do not exist, you are some Armenian national population, and we can talk with you only about the so-called integration, which will be the dismantling of the state, the colonization of Artsakh.’ Artsakh will turn into a reservation at best. That is, we dismantle the state, Azerbaijan establishes its hegemony, and with this the first phase ends, then repressions begin, people will be made to sit under the silent, deaf behavior of the international community. And Armenia is unlikely to do anything either," he said.

"We say: let's talk as equals. But that's not realistic either because seeing our dire situation, they think, who are these [people] that we should negotiate with them? They are a ruined country, their own ‘mother’ wants to abandon them. Under these conditions, everyone would do that instead of Azerbaijan," Babayan stated.

He added that if Azerbaijan presents an ultimatum during those negotiations, giving 24 or 36 hours to leave Artsakh, what should they do? "When the moment comes to talk with Azerbaijan, it will be an extreme situation during which the future of Artsakh will have to be decided: either leave or I don't know what will happen. In that case, two options remain: either armed resistance with unclear consequences, but with great bloodshed, or simply a manly exit [from Artsakh], not accepting these humiliating conditions. But apparently, that exit will also be from Armenia because people will no longer see a future in Armenia. The concept of the ‘Armenian nation’ will disappear, the Armenian society will become a mutated society, and it is already becoming because we do not see the care for Artsakh that there should have been. And this will already lead to a great tragedy already for Armenia. Azerbaijan is already announcing that Azerbaijanis should return to Armenia," said the advisor to the Artsakh President.