Former Armenian Foreign Minister Explains Why Armenia Did Not Recognize Nagorno-Karabakh's Independence for Years

Armenia had every reason to recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh during the recent war. This was stated today by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandian during a video bridge between Yerevan and Moscow on the Sputnik Armenia multimedia platform.

The former minister believes that unlike the April 2016 war, which ended within three and a half days, the current conflict has lasted much longer. Moreover, Azerbaijan has violated the humanitarian ceasefire agreements three times. According to Nalbandian, this was sufficient for Yerevan to recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh, and it 'could have been beneficial.'

The former head of the country's foreign ministry recalled that for many years, Armenia refrained from such a step, as the international community and the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group stated that recognition would jeopardize the future of negotiations.