Series of statements on involving Artsakh in negotiations is not a challenge, but an invitation to dialogue – Pashinyan
13:25,
YEREVAN, MARCH 19, ARMENPRESS. The agenda proposed by Armenia to involve Artsakh in the negotiations for the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is not something new both for the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and Azerbaijan, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told reporters today, asked how long Armenia is ready to wait, if Azerbaijan doesn’t agree with the stance of the Armenian side to include Artsakh in the negotiation process, reports Armenpress.
“There is no need to wait at all. It’s just necessary to work consistently in the diplomatic process because, frankly speaking, what is stated publicly, is not something new both for the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and Azerbaijan. What we have said at this period, I have proposed that agenda during certain talks: that is the same agenda which was formed in May 2018, we continue serving that agenda, and I want to highlight an important nuance: as I have already announced in Stepanakert, this is neither a whim nor a precondition from our side. This proposal is not for changing the format, but for restoring the negotiation format. We will continue the discussion on this topic with our partners and will try to continue this discussion in the field of facts because negotiation is a negotiation in a sense that we listen to each other. Armenia has demonstrated that ability, to listen to the other, try to understand, and we expect the same from them”, Pashinyan said.
He reminded that he made a statement on the necessity to return Artsakh to the negotiation table during the debate of election of the PM in the Parliament, and repeated the same statement during a press conference in Stepanakert on the next day of his election as PM.
“This series of statements is not a challenge, but an invitation to dialogue, is a dialogue process. This dialogue didn’t start just now, it started in Dushanbe, continued in St. Petersburg, Davos, I don’t know where the next dialogue will take place, and we do not imagine a regime where one of the sides says it refuses from dialogue. That will not be a logical approach, we will not refuse from dialogue, will put our facts on the table during that dialogue and will carefully listen to the counter-arguments of our colleagues. I think the constructive and effective solution or continuation must be within this logic framework”, Pashinyan said.
Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan