Wednesday, September 12 2018 19:04

ArmInfo. The last document, which was presented at the negotiating table on the Karabakh settlement, which was inherited from the previous authorities, did  not touch upon the status of Artsakh at all, it only spoke about the  need for the return of territories controlled by the Armenian side to  Azerbaijan. RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced this from the  rostrum of the Armenian parliament.

"I officially make this statement as the Prime Minister of Armenia,"  Pashinyan said, adding that initially there were not a single  document in the negotiations on the Karabakh settlement where it  would be clearly stated about the status of Artsakh or whether it  would be guaranteed in the future. "By 2018, the issue of NKR status  at the negotiating table was generally put on the back burner," he  stressed.  The head of the parliamentary commission on foreign  affairs, deputy chairman of the Republican Party Armen Ashotyan did  not agree with this statement. He said that the last document  officially presented by the OSCE Minsk Group clearly stated the  status of Nagorno-Karabakh as a variant of the final decision of the  conflict. "If indeed the positions of the Armenian side were so  defeatist, and at the table there was such a document, then why did  Azerbaijan take so much time, why did not he immediately agree to a  variant of the Karabakh settlement so advantageous for him?" asked  Ashotyan, asking the prime minister to present the document, which he  announced from the rostrum of the parliament.

This statement aroused the indignation of Pashinyan, who stressed:  "If I am a prime minister, I say that such a document exists, you  should take this into account." And when I imagine it, I will decide  myself, but I'm not so cruel as to immediately introduce you all the  subtleties of the times of your rule, in which case you may need  psychiatric help. "

Further, Pashinyan stressed that his position on the Karabakh  settlement remains unchanged, the issue of the status of Artsakh,  which should be determined in a nationwide referendum, is top  priority, and this can only be achieved by involving Stepanakert at  the negotiating table. "I have already said that I am the prime  minister of Armenia, and I can conduct negotiations on its behalf,  and on behalf of Artsakh the authorities of this republic should  speak. Yes, of course, if the purpose of the talks is only for the  sake of their holding, and not the settlement of the issue, in the  current format, but until the talks are held in the current format,  the conflict should not be settled soon, "Pashinyan said, adding that  there is nothing sensational in his words.  "After all, the Minsk  mediators repeatedly said that the Karabakh conflict should be  settled on the basis of free expression of the will of the Artsakh  people, which means that the co-chairs themselves recognize that  Artsakh is a party to the negotiations, which should sooner or later  join them," Pashinyan said, adding that there was not a single  proposal on the negotiations, which the Armenian side would refuse.   "I am fully prepared for the talks, RA Minister of Foreign Affairs  Zohrab Mnatsakanyan is fully involved in this process," Pashinyan  said, stressing that for the most part the militaristic rhetoric is  hampered by the Baku process.  Referring to the shelling of Armenian  border villages by Azerbaijan, Pashinyan said that the Armenian Armed  Forces reacted quickly and reacted to the provocations of Baku.