Nikol Pashinyan: "Armenia Supports Russia's Stance on Nagorno-Karabakh"
On November 2, during discussions of the draft state budget for next year in the parliament, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that Russia's position on the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh's status is entirely consistent with the approach of Armenia.
"Our Russian colleagues stated that, in their opinion, it would be right for the issue of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh to be postponed indefinitely, justifying this by the fact that, at the moment, there is no way to find any status that would be mutually acceptable to the parties. To what extent does the policy of the Armenian government correspond to this vision? I must say that it is one hundred percent consistent," Pashinyan added.
According to him, it is precisely for this reason that the Armenian government continues to voice the three main components of the conflict settlement: the security of the population of [the separatist] Nagorno-Karabakh, ensuring and protecting their rights, as well as determining the status of the unrecognized republic.
"You have noticed that in our discussions, we have, so to speak, moved the issue of status and talked about it last. Why? We agreed with our Russian partners that this issue should not be raised now, as this will lead to an inevitable crisis," the Prime Minister stated.
As previously reported by Caucasus Watch, President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia, and President Vladimir Putin of Russia met in Sochi in a tripartite format, the press offices of the Azerbaijani President and Armenian Prime Minister reported. The joint statement on the results of the meeting states that at the meeting, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, and President of Russia Vladimir Putin discussed the implementation of tripartite statements on November 9, 2020, January 11, and November 26, 2021.