Artsakh is a 'full-fledged negotiating party', Nikol Pashinyan says in Stepanakert

Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) is a full-fledged participant in the negotiations aiming to settle the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in Stepanakert, ruling out the possibility of reaching a final deal without the country's real engagement.

In his speech at a joint session bringing together the two countries' National Security Councils, the Armenian leader also appreciated the active work allowing the sides to approximate their positions. ″That doesn't mean at all that there are identical positions on all the details dealing with the entire contexts of the Artsakh settlement issue. That means that we really share an identical conception with respect to the strategy and vector, and the identical conceptions have several important pillars. The important one for me is the statement of the fact that the Republic of Artsakh is a full-fledged participant in the negotiations, and without the Republic of Artsakh no settlement of the Karabakh issue is virtually possible,″ he said, addressing participants of the event.  

The premier also highlighted the reshaped content of the negotiations, which he considered constructive in terms of new opportunities to reach a settlement. ″And in this respect, I too, attach importance to the discourse – and the discussion – that took place on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, where the same content received its flesh and blood, becoming clearly formulated. And we conventionally named them Munich principles,″ he added.

Emphasizing the role of security as a cornerstone of the developing cooperation, the premier ruled out any differentions or distinctions on the bilateral agenda (dealing with the “common security environment“). To that effort, he stressed the importance of the efficiency of the Armed Forces of Armenia and Artsakh and the existing moral-psychological atmosphere.

″I can state, all in all, that the Government of the Republic of Armenia has taken considerable measures in the past period – particularly in 2019 – to promote essential and tangible changes in the military,″ he said, referring particularly to the arms procuement procedures, social guarantees for the personnel (officer corps and soldiers), and the efforts towards addressing the financial needs.

″We all, as a result, naturally expect a new level of disciplinary standards, moral- psychological atmosphere and relations in the military, and I consider that problem to be really solvable now,″ Pashinyan said.