Video: Zohrab Mnatsakanyan's Interview with BBC

Thanks to the revolution, no one has questioned our external political priorities on the path to achieving our internal goals. Our external political priorities have been quite consistent—that is, to ensure the stability of Armenia's national security architecture.

This was stated by Armenia's Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan during an interview on the BBC news service's Hard Talk program.

"The Nagorno-Karabakh issue presents a significant security challenge for Armenia and our people. For us, it primarily concerns the security of our compatriots, the security of our citizens, the safety of 150,000 of our compatriots. Our government has immediately engaged in the resolution process without delay, and we have done so in a constructive manner. We are fully aware of the benefits of peace; we want peace, and we want to achieve it, but in a way that maintains a reasonable parity of commitments from the parties involved and addresses our absolute priorities regarding the security and status of the Nagorno-Karabakh people," the minister said.

In response to the observation that Armenia, on one hand, claims to want peace, while on the other hand, just a few months ago, the Prime Minister stated that ‘Karabakh is Armenia, end of story,’ Zohrab Mnatsakanyan replied, "He really wants peace because the Prime Minister of Armenia consistently asserts that the settlement we must reach must be acceptable to the Armenian people, the people of Karabakh, and the people of Azerbaijan. We are waiting for a signal or statement from Azerbaijan that will also address our interests and concerns regarding the security of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. They refuse to do so. I mention this because Armenia's agenda, as well as the pan-Armenian agenda, also concerns Artsakh. Armenia pursues an agenda of development and unification and cannot overlook the people of Artsakh; this is a pan-Armenian agenda. We are one nation that, while being within the territory of the Republic of Armenia, simultaneously has a global outreach."