At a press conference in Yerevan on May 22, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that Armenia hopes that an agreement on establishing peace and interstate relations with Azerbaijan will be reached shortly. 

"The military-political situation continues to be tense. The Armenian government sees promoting a peace agenda as the main way to overcome these tensions. Intensive negotiations are underway on an agreement on establishing peace and relations with Azerbaijan, and we hope to reach an agreement on the text as soon as possible and sign it," the head of government said. According to him, the perception of the international community is increasingly inclined to the conclusion that Armenia and Azerbaijan must unconditionally recognize each other's territorial integrity - 29,800 and 86,600 square kilometers, respectively, as well as the need to ensure the rights and security of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh within the framework of the dialogue between Baku and Stepanakert [Khankendi in Azerbaijani]. "Armenia agrees with this logic and is negotiating with this logic, emphasizing that international mechanisms for ensuring the Stepanakert-Baku dialogue are extremely important. At the same time, I am convinced that the strategic guarantee of Armenia's security is peace, which is possible when relations with all neighbors are regulated. This is not an easy process at all, but I think that this is what our people want and expect," Pashinyan said.

Moreover, he stated that the delimitation and subsequent demarcation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border is supposed to be carried out according to the maps of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the former USSR from 1975. According to him, now they talk about maps that the Russian side has repeatedly spoken about. "The position of Armenia remains the same; we favor delimitation according to the maps of the Soviet General Staff from 1975. Yerevan insists on a mirror withdrawal of troops following the delimitation results. This will ensure security (in the region)," the head of government said. "As for the position of Baku regarding the mirror withdrawal of troops to avoid armed incidents on the border, the Armenian leader at the current stage does not see any progress in this matter. Azerbaijan continues the policy of military pressure on Armenia, thereby trying to create more favorable conditions for itself in the negotiations. But this violates international obligations assumed by the Azerbaijani side," Pashinyan stressed.

Also, Pashinyan stated that the mission of the Collective Security Treaty Organization does not operate on the territory of Armenia since the CSTO does not fix the limits of the border of the Transcaucasian member of the military bloc with Azerbaijan. "When the CSTO clearly emphasizes this, 90% of the problems will be solved. This is a fundamental issue," the head of government said. At the same time, Pashinyan noted that Armenia does not receive signals from the West that relations with Russia need to be worsened and will not receive them. "Signals can be about bilateral relations or their development. As for Russia, we discuss our bilateral relations with our Russian colleagues quite transparently, and there are no dark spots in these discussions," he said.

Furthermore, Pashinyan said that the issue of Armenia's withdrawal from the Collective Security Treaty Organization is not excluded from the agenda. "Armenia will de jure leave the CSTO if it realizes that the organization left the country in terms of fulfilling its obligations. Such a decision can also be made if the status of a member of the CSTO interferes with the discussion of security issues of the Transcaucasian Republic with other countries," he added. According to him, membership in the CSTO previously became an obstacle for Yerevan to discuss the issues of purchasing weapons and military equipment in third countries. "We were told: you are a member of the CSTO; what should we discuss with you?" the head of the government explained.

During a press conference, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan considered it incorrect to answer whether Russia will return money to Armenia for undelivered weapons. The head of the government was asked whether Moscow would return the money if Yerevan claimed that money had been transferred and the Armenian side had not received military goods. Pashinyan called this issue a working one, which is under discussion. Based on this, the Armenian leader refrained from going into details, pointing out that it would be incorrect for him to reveal the nuances about his Russian partners.