To identify Karabakh with Armenia is the red line that cannot be crossed. The second President of Armenia and First President of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), Robert Kocharyan, said this at a meeting with analysts, on the settlement of the Karabakh conflict, posted on the ex-President's official YouTube channel, and referring to rumors that the current president of Karabakh is not as free in his positions as he was during his tenure.

"Identifying Karabakh with Armenia is the red line that should not be crossed. It is the instruction where it should be written in red, ‘Don’t do [it]!’ Because the first is not the same. During my presidency in Karabakh, we have always been a partner with Armenia, we have had serious contradictions; [but] we have never made those contradictions a topic of public discussion. But there were issues about the return of Kelbajar, the liberation of Aghdam and other regions. Yes, there were serious contradictions, but we did our job, and then sat down at the negotiating table, tried to find common ground, to reconcile, not to be hostile, but we did not given up our long-term goals just to have good relations. We did not refuse. And, in honor of the authorities of that time, I can say that they, too, were not turning the tension of those relations into an end in themselves—to put pressure on Karabakh to some extent, to deprive of money, to stop the funding, not to send weapons; there was no such thing.

Now the danger is in that. We were a partner, now they have subjugated Karabakh; I see a great danger in this. First, we lose the loophole in different approaches in the negotiation process because there were times when [Armenia’s First President Levon] Ter-Petrosyan simply said that, ‘Now the people of Karabakh do not listen to me, what should I do? Go and convince [them]!’ And it was not a theater, it was a natural situation, he could not say anything. You dismiss anyone you want in Karabakh, you appoint whoever you want. You cannot say that the people of Karabakh do not accept this or that approach.

Now bringing the status of a subordinate from the status of a partner causes serious damage to the whole process and, by the way, to the security of Karabakh. I generalize a little, but I also do not forget the specific matter. Yes, there have been contradictions. [But] it didn’t happen that I did not communicate with [Artsakh ex-President] Arkadi Ghukasyan for months, but Arkadi Ghukasyan persistently defended, and in general, Karabakh should be much more radical in the negotiation process than Armenia. There were things I did not like, but deep down I was convinced he was doing the right thing, and I was glad he was doing the right thing. At that moment you may not like it a little, but the next day you say, ‘He is doing the right thing.’ Associating is the most dangerous thing," Kocharyan added.