No one needs an imitation of talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict, and Armenia is ready to make real efforts so that the conflict is settled in a truly pacific way, Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told Kommersant newspaper of Russia.
“Azerbaijan hopes it will succeed in provoking a deterioration of relations between Armenia and Russia, so as to start provocative actions against that backdrop,” Pashinyan stated. “But since you all see, we all became convinced that there are no and cannot be global political issues in Armenia-Russia relations, I believe this scenario of Azerbaijan has simply failed.
“The problem is that the president of Azerbaijan is concerned that the democratic processes which took place in Armenia may move to Azerbaijan, and therefore he wants to distract—by exacerbating the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, on the Line of Contact—the attention of his citizens from domestic issues.”
At the same time, the Armenian PM said the situation on the Line of Contact is quite stable.
“But when we hear the military rhetoric of Azerbaijan, that’s an increase in the level of tension in relations,” he noted. “[But] Azerbaijan should know that it’s impossible to speak with Armenia in the language of threats.”
Also, Pashinyan admitted that the Karabakh peace process is at an impasse, since Azerbaijan uses military rhetoric.
“There can’t be constructive talks in this climate; a climate of talks is needed to start them,” he added. “I’m the prime minister of Armenia, and I’m ready to participate in talks on behalf of the Republic of Armenia. [But] I can’t speak on behalf of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. (…). A representative of Karabakh should represent Karabakh [in these peace talks].
“In their three statements on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, leaders of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries—Russia, the US, and France—also have stressed that the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh should be determined with the help of the expression of will by the people of Karabakh; this means that everyone realizes that Nagorno-Karabakh is a party to the conflict.”
In addition, the Armenian PM highlighted that he images the future negotiation process solely within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs.
“Often it’s asked whether Armenia is ready for any concession, but no one asks whether Azerbaijan is ready,” he noted. “If Azerbaijan is ready for compromises, then we are also ready.
“But the problem is that Azerbaijan threatens with war ever day. (…). In such a climate, we simply refuse to speak about compromises. (…). If Azerbaijan thinks that it can speak with us from the positions of force, we say that it’s impossible.”
And when asked whether Russian President Vladimir Putin had offered any ideas toward resolving the Karabakh conflict, the Armenian PM stated that the parties had said that the matter should be settled pacifically.
“We highly value the efforts that Vladimir Vladimirovich is undertaking for the settlement of the conflict,” Nikol Pashinyan concluded. “We are ready for talks; [but] it should be real talks.”
