On 20 May, Armenia’s acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that he would be ready to sign the document that was “declassified” by the country’s former ambassador to the Vatican Mikael Minasyan.

“There is a very disrespectful attitude towards the Armenian society - a document is being circulated on the Internet, 90% of which is redacted, and this is claimed to be proof that the Armenian government is signing an anti-Armenian document. If this is an anti-Armenian document, why is it redacted? It should have been fully disclosed and presented to the public,” Pashinyan said. “It is necessary to analyse where from they receive these documents, my analysis shows that the only source they may get is Azerbaijan because trilateral talks are ongoing – Russia-Armenia-Azerbaijan, as much as I analyse they get these documents from Azerbaijan. And I say that the solutions - which at the moment we have reached preliminary arrangements with our international partners - these solutions with 100% correspond to Armenia’s interests and if Azerbaijan implements these arrangements, I will sign this document,” Pashinyan emphasised, adding that he would not publish the document considering that doing so would be incorrect considering the conditions of ongoing negotiations. 

Pashinyan also emphasised at the session that the situation at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border was very tense. “Still a rather big number of Azerbaijani servicemen are in the territory of the Republic of Armenia, approximately 500-600,” he said. “In political terms, our issue is the following - not to allow the situation to go out of our control, do the utmost to exclude any scenario of war or military clashes, [and] reach withdrawal of the representatives of Azerbaijani armed forces from Armenia’s territory,” he added. 

According to Minasyan’s, the text of a trilateral statement has already been agreed upon and is ready for signing by the Presidents of Azerbaijan (Ilham Aliyev) and Russia (Vladimir Putin) and Pashinyan. This document provides for setting up a joint Armenian-Azerbaijani commission on border delimitation and “transfer of 6 Armenian villages to Azerbaijan (5 in Tavush and 1 in Ararat regions).” According to him, the document is to be pre-signed until 30 June. Minasyan claimed that Armenian Foreign Minister Ara Ayvazyan was categorically against the signing of this document.

Later, FactInfo reported that Ayvazyan was going to resign at his post following Pashinyan’s statement. According to the media channel, Pashinyan's administration is making attempts through diplomatic channels to have Ayvazyan reverse his decision.

Other political figures in the country also reacted to Pashinyan’s statements. The Office of Armenia’s President Armen Sarkissian issued a statement which said that the President was not involved in a process that reportedly resulted in this document.  “Therefore, President Sarkissian is completely unaware of the details of the document and the discussions around it. The President believes that such processes should be as transparent as possible and with the involvement of all interested parties," the statement said.

The two opposition parties represented in the outgoing Armenian parliament, Prosperous Armenia and Bright Armenia, demanded an emergency session of the National Assembly. “The authorities were convincing the people that without taking into consideration their opinion no decision could have been made in [the] Karabakh conflict settlement issue while at the end it became clear that the country’s prime minister… secretly from his teammates and all others signed a document,” wrote Bright Armenia’s leader Edmon Marukyan, adding that not one of the residents of Syunik, Gegharkunik, Tavush, Vayots Dzor and Ararat provinces knew what may happen with them tomorrow.

Armenia’s human rights ombudsman, Arman Tatoyan, also voiced serious concern over the revelation. He said the government must shed more light on the document “partially published on the Internet yesterday and confirmed at today’s government session.”