Prime Minister: We Hope the Results Will Come Soon

There are no obstacles to communication with Turkey, and Armenia is in continuous contact. This was stated by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in response to questions from John Herbst, Senior Director of the Eurasia Center at the Atlantic Council in the USA, and former US Ambassador to Uzbekistan and Ukraine.

“We will continue and are continuing that dialogue. I believe that Armenia and Turkey have never been in such active dialogue as they are now. Our foreign ministers are meeting and talking continuously; our representatives are in constant contact, and we are working very actively with a shared vision of what needs to be done. But of course, there are certain nuances, and certain final steps are needed to achieve tangible results. We hope that the results will come very soon,” Pashinyan noted.

He emphasized that Armenia is currently in a process of diversifying its foreign relations in all areas, from the economy to security. Addressing the regional situation, Pashinyan highlighted his belief that a breakthrough will occur, bringing the peace agreement with Azerbaijan to a final form and signing it, as well as achieving normalization of relations with Turkey. The Prime Minister stressed that Armenia aims to open a new era in its relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan.

“Of course, we are working with Azerbaijan in a bilateral format, but it is clear that the attention and support of the international community would be very helpful in creating an appropriate environment to achieve sustainable peace,” Pashinyan noted.

Speaking about the peace agreement, Pashinyan emphasized that one of the points pertains to the deployment of third-party forces along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. Azerbaijan is suggesting a restriction on the deployment of third-party forces along the border, referring to the European civilian observer mission. He highlighted that Armenia has taken note of Azerbaijan's desire and has put forth its own proposal, which implies applying that point only in delineated sections of the border. This means that if Armenia delineates a certain section, there should be no presence of third-party forces there. Thus, Armenia has presented its proposal in written form and is awaiting a response from Azerbaijan.