Armenia-Artsakh mutual assistance pact 'will produce Iskander effect' in diplomacy - Serzh Sargsyan

Armenia's third president on Wednesday responded to the concerns over the elaboration of a mutual assistance pact between Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) and Armenia, a proposal he made back in 2016 after the eruption of the hostilities dubbed the Four-Day War.

Meeting with journalists for his first ever news conference convened since his resignation in 2018, Serzh Sargsyan stressed the urgent mportance of "catching the right moment"  for signing and effectuating the deal.

"That agreement was certainly prepared and at the corresponding agency's disposal. I think the signing of an agreement like that would be tantamount to a shooting released from [the  ballistic missile system] Iskander - diplomatically or in the public information domain. Hence it must be properly timed to avoid unnecessary risks. I am deeply convinced it will be necessary in the future," he said when asked to comment on the subsequent efforts towards that end.

But the former president refrained from any comment on the activities of the ad-hoc parliamentary commission investigating the circumstances behind the April War. Sargsyan, who was invited by the panel this April, said he had promised at the meeting back then not to unveil any opinion or question "even if they fully responded to me"

Sargsyan promised not to speak out until 2050 "unless extremely necessary". "The investigative panel's report will be introduced at the National Assembly; we will have occasions to meet later, whether or not you agree to the commission's opinions," he added.