I have sufficient grounds to believe that there is an opportunity to re-establish Artsakh, at least within the framework of the NKAO. Robert Kocharyan—the second President, leader of the "Armenia" bloc which is running in the snap parliamentary elections on June 20, and its candidate for prime minister—said this at their campaign meeting with the residents of Metsamor town.

"The biggest problem is that the [trilateral] statement [of November 9, 2020] is envisioned for a period of five years. In 4.5 years, Azerbaijan may demand the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers [from the area]; this creates a lot of uncertainty. First of all, we [the Armenian side] need to get assurances that this will not happen; this creates a lot of uncertainty.

We [the Armenian side] are entering the negotiation process from very weak positions. I link the strengthening and restoration of the [Armenian] army to the negotiation process. The sooner we restore the army, the stronger our positions will be," Kocharyan stressed.