Pashinyan Explains the Connection to Events at the Armenian-Azerbaijani Border

Today, it is necessary to have a non-emotional and calm conversation; in this context, I am not just here to present facts. This was stated by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in the National Assembly.

“It is very important to clarify the context of what is happening—why all this is taking place. All the claims that the RA Armed Forces engaged in provocations and that Azerbaijan's actions were in response to the actions of the Armenian Armed Forces are absolutely inconsistent with reality. In recent days, the Azerbaijani side has constantly disseminated information in the genre of information warfare regarding supposed attacks by the Armenian Armed Forces, which have no relation to reality,” he said.

Pashinyan noted that one of the reasons for what is happening is connected to the negotiations over Nagorno-Karabakh. “You all remember that in March 2020, Azerbaijan presented five proposals for a peace treaty and suggested that a peace agreement be signed based on those proposals. Our response was that there is nothing unacceptable in those proposals for us, but we believe that those points should be complemented, and on that basis, we are ready to conduct negotiations and sign a peace treaty. It seemed that there was an understanding on the topic, but during the last meeting in Brussels, it became clear that Azerbaijan refuses to conduct negotiations on the peace treaty even based on the principles we proposed,” he noted.

Pashinyan stated that there were points in the Armenian side's proposals regarding the security of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh and the maintenance of previously agreed obligations. “Azerbaijan's position on this matter was that they do not want to discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh issue with Armenia, as, in their view, the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh is resolved or is an internal matter of Azerbaijan. Armenia does not oppose Azerbaijan’s offer to recognize mutual territorial integrity. However, it is essential to understand what we mean by that; for example, does Azerbaijan consider the territories occupied by Azerbaijan during the events of May 12, 2021, or during the first Nagorno-Karabakh war when discussing Armenia's territorial integrity? We do not receive an answer to this question. Azerbaijan insists that Armenia recognizes Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, which follows from their formulated position,” stated Nikol Pashinyan from the National Assembly podium.