PM Pashinyan speaks about Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement process

Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan expects that the instructions given to the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan by the leaders of the countries will be implemented, while the instructions are about having discussions over the issues and agenda discussed in Vienna by Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and president of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev in March and trying to bring the positions close to each other, ARMENPRESS reports Pashinyan told the reporters following his visit to the Agrarian University of Armenia.

Question – Today is the meeting of the Foreign Ministers. Last time you said that you have launched the negotiations from a new point. What are your expectations from this meeting in this context?

PM Pashinyan – I expect from the meeting that the instructions I and the Azerbaijani president have given to the foreign ministers will be implemented, while the instructions are about having discussions over the issues and agenda discussed in and trying to bring the positions close to each other.

Question – The Russian FM also participates in the meeting? How can it be explained?

PM Pashinyan – There is nothing strange, since Russia is an OSCE Minsk Group Co-chair country, and I think such a practice has been in the past and will be in the future. The meeting can take place under the auspices of the Russian foreign minister, as well as the French foreign minister or the U.S. Secretary of State. So I think no extraordinary thing here.

Question – In your speech in Strasburg you emphasized the position of the Armenian side over Artsakh issue solution, but Baku again reacted in the old manner, the so-called “occupied territories and withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces”. Under such conditions how does the Armenian side see the continuation of the negotiations?

PM Pashinyan – I said in my speech at the Congress of the Yerkrapah Volunteers Union (YVU) that one of the greatest problems is that the announcements prior and following the meetings sometimes do not correspond to the nature of the negotiations. In Vienna, before it and after it, my call will be about that, that let’s not to say much about the talks if it is necessary, but we should say something so that people can understand that they cope with serious people, because can you imagine what an unserious situation it is, when the leaders of two countries speak to each other in a room for 2 hours, and later the public can in no way understand from their announcements what they have discussed. This is the greatest problem for the negotiations, because there is a tradition coming from the past. I do not bear that tradition and therefore I have nothing to ...