YEREVAN. – Last year's events have created a new reality in the region. Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia stated this at Saturday’s joint news conference with visiting European Council President Charles Michel.

"It should be noted that the use of force and mass atrocities cannot resolve the Karabakh [(Artsakh)] conflict, the settlement of which is possible only through negotiations within the framework of the only format with an international mandate: the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship. In this context, I consider it important to mention the statement of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs on April 13, in which they call on the parties [to the conflict] to resume the high-level political dialogue under the auspices of the Co-Chairs at the earliest opportunity to achieve a final, comprehensive and lasting settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the basis of principles well known to the parties.

I already have welcomed several times this announcement of the start of peace talks, emphasizing that Armenia is ready to resume talks, but Azerbaijan has not responded at all, and according to information received from unofficial sources, Azerbaijan intends to provoke new military clashes in Artsakh and on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, whose expression we see today in the Nakhchivan part of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

The incidents provoked by Azerbaijan also do not allow to start the work aimed at the delimitation and demarcation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, which I have also referred to several times in public, including during the election campaign.

The unconditional and immediate return of [Armenian] prisoners of war, hostages, and other detainees held in Azerbaijan, in accordance with international humanitarian law and the tripartite declaration of 9 November 2020, has been highlighted as a priority in our negotiations with President Michel.

I would like to emphasize that Azerbaijan's practice of not returning the prisoners of war, hostages, and other detainees is not the only case of its violation of the November 9 trilateral statement. As you know, the November 9 statement envisages the unblocking of all transport and economic infrastructures in the region. Azerbaijan obstructs this process not only with obvious threats to occupy Armenia's sovereign territory, but also, in spite of its obligations, refuses to provide Armenia with a corridor for the operation of the Armenia-Georgia-Azerbaijan-Russia railway," the Armenian acting PM said.