Nikol Pashinyan on Russian Peace Proposal and Extending Period of Russian Peacekeepers' Existence
On October 29, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said he is ready to sign a document at a trilateral meeting in Sochi to extend the mandate of Russian peacekeepers in [the separatist] Nagorno-Karabakh for up to 20 years. "We want the Russian peacekeepers to continue their mission. I am prepared to put my signature on a document in Sochi extending the peacekeepers' mandate for 10, 15, or 20 years. I suggest that the Russian President come up with this initiative. I can make the proposal, but Russia needs to support it," Pashinyan emphasized. He also noted that he cannot resolve the issue of extending the mandate on his own since this is a tripartite document. "If Armenia and Russia agree on this issue, they become the majority," Pashinyan concluded.
On October 28, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan wrote on Twitter that Armenia is ready to work on establishing relations with Azerbaijan based on Russia's proposals. "At the beginning of September, Armenia agreed to work on establishing interstate relations with Azerbaijan based on the basic principles and parameters proposed by Russia and is ready to confirm this in Sochi. We hope that Russia will support its proposals," Pashinyan added. The Prime Minister did not say what Russia's proposals were.
Earlier, while speaking at the "Valdai" forum on October 27, Caucasus Watch reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia did not dictate to Armenia in the peace treaty with Azerbaijan and added that the choice of option for the peace agreement is at Armenia's discretion. But he stressed that the proposal from Washington reflects Azerbaijan's sovereignty over [the unrecognized Nagorno-] Karabakh. "If the Armenian people or the leadership of Armenia believe that the Washington version of the peace agreement, which provides for the recognition of Azerbaijan's sovereignty over Karabakh as a whole, should be chosen, then they can. If the Armenian leadership believes that Karabakh has its characteristics and these characteristics should be considered and discussed in the future peace agreement, this is also possible. But, of course, it is necessary to agree with Azerbaijan. These agreements must be acceptable to the other party - Azerbaijan," Vladimir Putin added. He said that Russia has been holding a dialogue with Armenia for many years to solve the issue of Karabakh.