16:03,

YEREVAN, APRIL 22, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan rules out signing any document on the resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict without a “broad public discussion.”

“I rule out, I simply rule out that a document can exist close to getting signed that would be signed without a broad public discussion, including with all layers of Artsakh’s public. This is a guarantee, an iron guarantee that the fate of Artsakh cannot be decided behind the back of the people,” Pashinyan said.

He says that in this regard the pessimists are mentioning the 2020 November 9 trilateral statement as an example of a document that was singed without a broad public discussion. However, Pashinyan rejected the comparison. “This is an odd comparison because in wartime a decision was to be made within hours and sometimes minutes to save thousands of Artsakhis, 25 thousand troops and save Artsakh from exodus of Armenians and these comparisons are simply inappropriate. But on the other hand our entire policy and steps are aimed at this very issue, so that we don’t have to make decisions in such conditions,” the PM said.

Pashinyan added that the society is now aware of the content of all documents that are subject to negotiations. “It is the 5-points handed over by Azerbaijan and our response to it which was essentially entirely published through interviews and speeches and we will continue this conduct in the future as much as inter-state diplomatic ethics allows,” Pashinyan said.