Interfax - Russia & CIS General Newswire Thursday 9:05 PM MSK High-ranking Armenian figures argue whether Armenia is party to Nagorno-Karabakh conflict YEREVAN. May 17 Armenia is a party involved in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan said. "Armenia is a party involved in the conflict. We also signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The document was drawn up by Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia joined it later," Kocharyan told journalists. From this viewpoint, "Armenia is an involved party," he said. "The main parties to the conflict are Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan. We have said repeatedly that Armenia cannot hold negotiations instead of Artsakh [the Armenian name for Nagorno-Karabakh]," he said. Former Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan, who stepped down on May 11 after the formation of a new government led by Nikol Pashinyan, said the new prime minister's remarks in which he described Armenia as a party to the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement process might pose a danger. This drew objections from first Armenian President Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who said that, in accusing Pashinyan, Vigen Sargsyan in fact "reveals his absolute ignorance of the essence of the Karabakh settlement process." The international community recognized Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Nagorno-Karabakh as parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the Final Document of the Budapest Summit of December 6, 1994 and the OSCE Senior Council Chairman's Summary in Prague on March 31, 1995, Ter-Petrosyan said. Vigen Sargsyan said in response that Ter-Petrosyan's approaches "have been the obvious reason for his resignation as head of state and the total fiasco of the Armenian National Congress he leads in the 2017 parliamentary elections." Va gc iz