July Victorious Battles Proved That the Nagorno-Karabakh Issue Has No Military Solution: Prime Minister's Speech at Security Council Meeting

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is heading a meeting of the Security Council in Yerevan. In his speech, Prime Minister Pashinyan stated:

“Good afternoon, esteemed colleagues. Today we are holding the regular meeting of Armenia's Security Council. During our previous meeting, we adopted a new national security strategy, and it is notable that shortly after that decision, the relevance and viability of this document were confirmed. It was established that we accurately assessed the security threats facing our country, and overall, the strategic assessment of our security environment was conducted with high quality.

Since our last meeting, the well-known events in Tavush have taken place—the victorious battles of Tavush—and it should be noted that Azerbaijan has maintained a position throughout this entire period, in which the military solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh issue was presented by them as a concession to both Armenia and the international community. We have continuously urged the leadership of Azerbaijan not to speak to Armenia from a position of force, in the language of force, as it is unproductive rhetoric. In fact, the July victorious battles proved this and demonstrated that the Nagorno-Karabakh issue has no military solution. I believe it is time for the Azerbaijani authorities to acknowledge this because I have repeatedly stated that if the Nagorno-Karabakh issue has a military solution, then the people of Artsakh can state that they resolved this issue a long time ago.

It is very important to note that Armenia’s position on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue has remained constructive, and our stance is that, yes, the Artsakh issue should be resolved through peaceful negotiations. The position of the Republic of Armenia has always been this, regardless of the political origins of governments and authorities.

The next factor that is recorded in the National Security Strategy and expressed very quickly is Turkey’s disruptive policy in our region and globally. I believe that Turkey’s destabilizing and disruptive activities raise significant concerns and worries among our partners in the Middle East, the Eurasian region, and Europe. This is an agenda that has already been formed, and our actions within this agenda should also become a crucial subject of discussion in the Security Council, the government, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and we will address related issues in today’s meeting.

Overall, the most important statement we must make is that the Republic of Armenia is capable of addressing its security challenges. At the same time, we must set the objective of raising the level of manageability of our security environment every week, every month, and every year. And the Security Council is exactly the working format where such issues should be discussed and solutions should be found.”

Several security-related issues are on the agenda of the Security Council meeting.