11:49, 20 June 2023

YEREVAN, JUNE 20, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has reacted to the criticism claiming he had the chance to maintain Armenian control over Shushi during the Second Nagorno Karabakh War.

Speaking at the parliamentary select committee probing the war, Pashinyan said he asked Russian President Vladimir Putin on October 13, 2020 to answer the following direct question: what would it take to end the war.

A more detailed discussion with Putin on this issue took place again on October 16, and the Russian President expressed opinion that they could try to discuss the end of hostilities in exchange of returning the five regions to Azerbaijan, without any clarification of the status of Nagorno Karabakh.

“On that day, we agreed with the President of Russia that the teams would work on developing this idea. On October 17, French President Emmanuel Macron presented his initiative, who told me that the Azerbaijani President was ready to establish ceasefire without preconditions starting midnight October 18. Naturally I agreed to this, and during several hours a statement between France, Armenia and Azerbaijan was agreed upon, which was published late in the evening of October 17. Despite the statement, not even a ceasefire was established on October 18, despite diplomatic efforts proceeding throughout the day to end the war,” Pashinyan said.

Pashinyan and Putin then held a phone call on October 19. Putin reiterated that a Russian plan developed years earlier could be used in an attempt to stop the war. The terms were the following: the 7 regions were to be surrendered with the 5+2 format, the issue of connection between Nagorno Karabakh and Armenia through Lachin Corridor was to be resolved, Russian peacekeepers were to be deployed in Karabakh, the Nagorno Karabakh status was to remain uncertain.

“We agreed with the President of Russia that I would express our position by evening. In the afternoon I initially invited representatives of non-parliamentary forces, and then I convened a session of the Security Council with the participation of the President, the Catholicos and parliamentary forces, where I said that I was planning to call the Russian President and tell him that I agree with the proposed option. Furthermore, like I said, I wasn’t expecting any of the participants to share responsibility of that decision. I was simply informing them on the processes. I called the Russian President in the evening and I told him that I was ready to end the war with those terms. The Russian President said he would talk with the Azerbaijani President and call me back.”

At that time, two of the five regions, Fizuli and Jabrayil, were either completely or partially under Azerbaijani control. Putin called Pashinyan on the next day and said the following: “Azerbaijan is ready to end the war but expects to receive all seven regions, or more accurately the remaining five regions, because two of them, Fizuli and Jabrayil, were already mostly under their control.”

The issue of Shushi was raised the same day, Pashinyan said.

“On 19 October 2020, the Russian President told me that the Azerbaijani side has one more condition, it expects guarantees that Azerbaijani refugees which they claim comprised 90% of the population of Shushi would return to Shushi. This was an expected offer for the Russian side because they were saying that the plan on resolving the Karabakh conflict, which had been on the table for many years, always included the issue of the return of refugees and internally displaced persons to Nagorno Karabakh. This is the reason why after 9 November I said in parliament that the issue of Shushi had always been in the negotiations agenda, because if it is said that Azerbaijanis are returning to Nagorno Karabakh, is there a need to clarify that they must return to the settlements where they used to live? This is what I am accused of, that if I had agreed for Azerbaijanis to return to Shushi it would stay under Armenian control, and although populated by Azerbaijanis it would be Armenian. Frankly speaking this wording itself is contentious, but when the issue of Shushi was raised I tried to clarify what the guarantees expected by the Azerbaijanis were to look like according to that proposed variant. And it turned out during that conversation that I had to declare that I agreed to the return of Azerbaijani refugees to Shushi and other settlements in Karabakh. The Russian President offered this issue to be linked with the status of Nagorno Karabakh. That is, the issue of the return of Azerbaijanis to the NKAO was to be resolved in the context of the issue of the Karabakh status, together with the presumed decision in this regard. I agreed to this wording, but the Azerbaijani side, like in the past, rejected this, saying that they weren’t ready to discuss any issue related to the status. Moreover, according to that offer, not only the Azerbaijani who used to live in Shushi but also all Azerbaijanis had to have direct and unimpeded access to Shushi. For example, fifty thousand Azerbaijanis could visit to who knows how many Azerbaijanis living in Shushi, without limitations. They could even go and stay. But the most important issue was how their movement was to be ensured. It turned out, for example, that a new road had to be built linking Shushi with Azerbaijan so that Azerbaijanis had no need to use the Lachin Corridor or any other existing road for traveling to Shushi. That road could’ve passed, for example, through Kubatli. By that proposal of Azerbaijan, Shushi had to have at least 95% of Azerbaijani population, without any limit or control on further increase, they had to have a separate road linking Shushi with Azerbaijan outside Lachin Corridor, under their control. This meant that Azerbaijani military units could be deployed there. This in turn meant that, without exaggeration, this was about surrendering Shushi to Azerbaijan. One of the practical grounds for rejecting this proposal was the following: this would mean that the Lachin Corridor were not to function, because the Azerbaijanis could close it at any moment, because Shushi wouldn’t be inside Lachin Corridor, while Lachin Corridor would pass a few meters from Shushi. The latest developments proved my prediction with well-known circumstances,” Pashinyan said.