Pashinyan on Signing Peace with Azerbaijan

It is evident that it is impossible to have real and growing independence, prosperity, and security without peace. This is simply impossible. This was stated by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in an interview with John Herbst, Senior Director of the Eurasia Center at the Atlantic Council, following his speech at the Atlantic Council, in response to a question about why he is so steadfastly pursuing peace with Azerbaijan.

“People and political forces in Armenia discuss what could be the most reliable tool for ensuring the security of our country and people. This is indeed a very urgent and important question. Our answer is that peace is the only reliable tool for security, and the only reliable tool for prosperity is peace. Peace is also key for democracy, because we cannot have democracy in a war environment,” Pashinyan stated.

He noted that due to historical factors, people in Armenia are not very optimistic regarding the peace agenda. However, if you were to ask him whether he is optimistic or pessimistic, he would respond that he doesn’t think we should be optimistic or pessimistic; we need to be proactive, creative, and continuously work towards implementing that agenda.

“Clearly, the potential benefits of peace are important not only for people living in Armenia but for the entire region; even the international community would benefit from that peace. Thus, we perceive this process as our contribution to global peace, because how is global peace and stability formed when as many interested parties in international relations contribute to that effort and work in that direction? We view this process from that perspective. It is not only our duty towards our citizens and our region but also our obligation towards the international community, international stability, and peace. We hope that the international community will also view this process from that standpoint. We expect to receive support from our international partners as we continue down this path. This is why we are trying to explain all the nuances of our intentions to our international partners,” he emphasized.