Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Thursday confirmed that there was not much progress in his talks with President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan last week in Brussels, citing differences regarding the status of Nagorno-Karabakh and a settlement to the conflict.
Pashinyan told members of the Armenian community in Vladivostok, Russia that the sides failed to agreed on some of the “most important issues to Armenia” during the Brussels meeting.
“This is particularly about the Nagorno Karabakh conflict,” said Pashinyan, explaining that Azerbaijan believes that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has been settled and there was nothing left to be discussed.
“Our position, and clearly the position of the international community, do not match with Azerbaijan’s position. It is obvious that Russia, in particular, does not share that position.”
Pashinyan recalled that during his visit to Russia in April, he and President Vladimir Putin signed a statement in which the two countries declared their cooperation in to resolve the Karabakh conflict. The prime minister cited this document the underscore that Russia is on record saying that the Karabakh conflict has not been resolved.
“This is logical because if there was no conflict the Russian peacekeeping forces wouldn’t be deployed in Nagorno-Karabakh now,” Pashinyan said.
The Armenian government will not give any corridor through Armenia’s territory to anyone, Pashinyan said at the community meeting in Vladivostok, in response to questions about whether opening regional transit roads could pose threats to Armenia, especially its Syunik Province.
“The opening of the road does not create any danger for Armenia and Syunik province, on the contrary it will bring additional security and stability guarantees, it is another matter that sometimes there are expressions in the Azerbaijani narrative which reveal some dangers. For example, they speak about a corridor. I want this to be very clear: we will not give any corridor to anyone through the territory of Armenia. But we will give a road, we will open the road, and we are ready to do it at any moment. We have also conveyed proposals, which as soon as Azerbaijan accepts them we can sign a concrete document based on these proposals and very quickly implement these agreements,” added Pashinyan.
He warned that Azerbaijan wants the regional connections to be opened in a way that Armenia remains blockaded.
Pashinyan added that during the Brussels meeting both Armenia and Azerbaijan recorded their desire to reach peace. Pashinyan mentioned that absolutely everyone wants peace but everyone has their perception, conditions, results and atmosphere of peace – and this is where conflicts emerge.
He also said that the return of Armenian prisoners of war has been a priority for his administration.
“You can be sure that this issue is always in our attention on all levels, in our contacts with both Russia and all other partners, and in contacts with Azerbaijan. Our position is that this is a humanitarian issue which must be solved,” Pashinyan said.