If I Had Known That Hitting Tents by the Opposition Would Solve the Issue, I Might Have Asked for It: Pashinyan

“Unfortunately, we have had missing persons not only since September. We still have about 200 missing from the 44-day war,” stated Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan at a press conference today. He noted that the commission on this issue has been restructured and is working under the leadership of the NSS Director. The Prime Minister emphasized that they continue to make efforts and are in communication with the relatives of the missing persons. They must continue working until the issue is resolved.

Discussing Azerbaijan's reasons for not returning prisoners, Nikol Pashinyan said, “It is a leverage to exert pressure on Armenia to force the Armenian government, including under the influence of domestic pressures, to make decisions that do not align with Armenia's interests. This is also done by violating the trilateral statement of November 9.”

When asked whether direct negotiations are taking place with Azerbaijan regarding the opening of the Lachin corridor and whether Azerbaijan has not closed the Lachin corridor to receive the so-called Syunik corridor, and how this relates to the statements of the Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia regarding Russian peacekeepers not fulfilling their duties, Nikol Pashinyan responded, “I would not say that Russian peacekeepers do not fulfill their duties at all. We specifically mentioned situations regarding Lachin, Khankendi, and Parukh. We have these points in mind. The party that should discuss these issues is the elected representatives of the Nagorno-Karabakh people. They must discuss and make decisions; we support them. According to the 6th point of the trilateral statement, Armenia has no obligations. This is a zone under the control of Russian peacekeepers.”

Addressing concerns related to the Syunik corridor, Nikol Pashinyan assured, “As I have said, I exclude the existence of an extraterritorial corridor through the territory of Armenia. If they claim there was a verbal agreement or promise, these are provably absurdities.”

Journalists also recalled the “reliable source” from the newspaper “Haykakan Zhamanak” and asked if it was Nikol Pashinyan. The Prime Minister half-jokingly responded, “My agenda today is a bit more than dealing with the topics of HZ.”

“But can the government of Armenia do something, so the Lachin corridor wouldn’t be closed, and then everyone would say, ‘we didn’t understand, what did you do?’” asked Pashinyan.

In response to the observation that the Lachin corridor is closed while the Armenian opposition remains silent, and they have not even set up tents, Pashinyan replied, “If I had known that hitting tents by the opposition would solve the issue, I might have asked for it myself; I would say, please pitch tents. Actions are not always evident to bring results.”

To a reporter's observation that regarding the Lachin corridor, you always direct all arrows towards Russian peacekeepers, but don’t you think that the Armenian government bears some responsibility, particularly in the National Assembly, Nikol Pashinyan stated that Artsakh has no theoretical or practical chance to be part of Azerbaijan; can Azerbaijan not use this as a card and say that the issue of the Lachin corridor is internal? Pashinyan responded, “I am merely reading the text of the trilateral statement of November 9. I agree that you can evaluate any statement I made in one way or another. But the text of Article 6 of the November 9 trilateral statement does not change based on any statement I have made. Regarding your question about the section of my statement, one does not relate to the other.”

Journalists asked regarding Pashinyan’s statement about disappointment with the CSTO, at what point should one consider that it is time to be disappointed, and whether there is no need to actively engage with the West for solutions to these issues. Pashinyan replied, “We need to work with everyone. The cornerstone for the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to live in their homeland is their will. We should work with the West, with the CSTO, and other countries. Regarding the disappointment with the CSTO, the fact that we did not sign the declaration of the CSTO summit in Yerevan is also a sign of disappointment.”