This is truly one of those cases when we simply torpedo the negotiation process, peaceful settlement, and establishment of relations with not-so-constructive statements. Armenian foreign minister Ararat Mirzoyan told this to reporters at the National Assembly Friday—and referring to the fact that the Azerbaijani presidential adviser states that Armenia must pay compensation for the territories it “occupied.”

“I definitely not only do not share [this view], but if necessary, I can say dozens of points where both human rights and material damage have been violated. But I want to say that at the moment when the peace agreement [between Armenia and Azerbaijan] enters into force and the [two] parties withdraw their lawsuits, at the same time both parties undertake an obligation not to come forward with lawsuits against each other also in the future regarding the issues that existed between the parties before the signing of the treaty. That is, all the disputes that we have now, it is assumed that the parties shall go to reconciliation with all those disputes,” the Armenian FM said.

Speaking about Azerbaijan’s positing preconditions to Armenia, Mirzoyan said: “Those preconditions have been voiced before also. We have never accepted their legitimacy and being part of the agenda, we never negotiate about that. There was an exchange of ideas that we have such a demand. And we say, ‘Well, we also have such a demand, we do not accept your demand either.”

Regarding the remark that it turns out that the signing of the peace agreement will be delayed due to Azerbaijan’s preconditions, the Armenian FM said: "It's not good that they are setting such a precondition. Well, if we could already sign, and we hope and are ready that we should already start signing. Yesterday we also proposed to start consultations, specifically regarding the specific time. Yes, unfortunately there are parallel preconditions, we need to work, let's see how we can find a solution. The overall settlement process is continuing, yes."