President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan (left) with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Brussels on Aug. 31

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, having returned from talks in Brussels with President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, told his cabinet on Thursday that the discussion with the Azerbaijani leader was “not easy.”

In their fourth meeting mediate by the European Council President Charles Michel, Pashinyan and Aliyev on Wednesday agreed to continued discussions on normalizing relations between their two countries and tasked their foreign ministers to continue the talks.

According to Michel, Pashinyan and Aliyev also agreed to address an eventual peace treaty between the two countries.

Pashinyan told the cabinet that the discussion with Aliyev was “extensive”

“But, I would like to stress that our goals remain the same and must continue to remain the way I have announced,” said Pashinyan referring to his government’s so-called “peace agenda,” which he said requires “determination” to fulfill.

“We all must understand that this isn’t easy and simple, and the possible solutions aren’t obvious,” Pashinyan said.

“It is a necessity and the people’s desire for lasting and comprehensive peace to be established in our region as soon as possible. And we must focus more and more on solving this issue,” Pashinyan added.

His meeting with Aliyev was deemed a failure by opposition forces, which said that the prime minister again was caving in with Azerbaijan getting closer to its goals.

“Having essentially accepted the enemy’s latest orders, Nikol continues to talk about the so-called peace agenda,” Ishkhan Saghatelyan, a leader of the opposition Armenia faction said in a Facebook post on Friday.

Saghatelyan urged all Armenians to attend an anti-government rally which the Armenia and I Have honor blocs have scheduled Yerevan on Friday.

He said that by attending the rally in large numbers they must show Pashinyan and the international community that “the Armenian nation has not abandoned Artsakh.”