‘By surrendering, I became the author of decisions that caused thousands of deaths’: Pashinyan

‘In one of my recent interviews, I hinted that if I were to be objectively accused, it shouldn't be for surrendering lands, but rather for not surrendering them. Now, yes, I want to admit that it is possible I am guilty in that regard. I am guilty for not standing before our public in 2018-2019 and not clearly stating that all our distant and close friends expect us to hand over the seven known territories to Azerbaijan in one configuration or another and lower the bar we set for the status of Artsakh,’ he noted.

‘I am guilty for not telling our people that the international community unequivocally recognizes Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, expects us to recognize it as well, and also expects that those Azerbaijanis who left Nagorno-Karabakh will be fully involved in the decisions and governance of Nagorno-Karabakh's future. I am guilty for not clearly and unequivocally stating that even the scenarios proposed to us that are unacceptable for us were not acceptable for Azerbaijan either, and that representatives of the international community sometimes told us clearly, sometimes diplomatically, that even if these are accepted by the Armenian side, we would still have to convince Azerbaijan to accept them. I should have presented all of this in detail to our people; my failure to do so is my real guilt, and framing the accusation in such a way is not an attempt to soften the situation at all, but on the contrary, it sharpens it because by surrendering, I might have saved thousands of lives, while not surrendering has made me the author of decisions that led to thousands of casualties,’ Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated during his speech in the National Assembly today.