Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan being interviewed by Armenian Public TV's Petros Ghazaryan on Dec. 19

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that there is no international document that states that the Karabakh conflict has been resolved, adding that the discussion of a document for the resolution of the conflict does not mean that it has been resolved.

Pashinyan made the statements in response to questions posed to him during an interview with Armenian Public Television, presumably in response to separate claims by both Russian and Azerbaijani authorities who have insisted that the conflict has been resolved.

Since the 2020 War, President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan has claimed on numerous occasions that the Karabakh conflict has been resolved after Azerbaijan’s so-called victory in the war. Following Azerbaijan’s attack on Artsakh in September of this year, and the forced mass exodus of Artsakh Armenians, Aliyev has said that the conflict has “once and for all” been resolved.

Meanwhile, Russian authorities, including President Vladimir Putin, have said that by recognizing Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity—that includes Artsakh—Pashinyan himself has rendered the Karabakh conflict resolution issue moot.

“There has never been any document on table that has stipulated a resolution to the Karabakh conflict in the event of its signing,” Pashinyan said during an interview on Armenia’s Public Television.

“All documents, beginning from the [OSCE Minks Group-proposed] ‘Madrid Principles,’ have stipulated that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has not been resolved,” added Pashinyan.

The prime minister said that there was only one document, the signing of which could have been deemed a resolution to the conflict. He said that was the 1999 document that would have exchanged Meghri for Artsakh—“Meghri is ceded to Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh is united with Armenia.”

Pashinyan said that these documents were specifically worded such so that “the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can remain a dangling sword over Armenia, and maybe even over Azerbaijan.”

Pashinyan explained that he and his government were calling for the “lowering of the benchmark” for the Artsakh negotiations, “because we wanted our ideas about self-determination to become aligned with the international community’s notions about self-determination.”

He said that the notion of self-determination was introduced during a summit in Lisbon in 1996.

Pashinyan also addressed a statement made by Putin, who publicly stated that Armenia had recognized Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan and not Moscow.

“In November and December of 2020, the president of Russia announced that Nagorno-Karabakh is part of Azerbaijani. Those announcements were public,” Pashinyan said.

“Based on my understanding, that statement contradicted the November 9, 2020 agreement,” Pashinyan added.

He recalled that, after Putin’s announcement, Azerbaijan invaded Armenia’s territory, prompting Yerevan to appeal to the Collective Security Treaty Organization and Russia. Pashinyan added that at the time Yerevan also emphasized that there was “zero reaction” from Russia on that and Azerbaijan’s attack on Parukh in Artsakh’s Askeran Region, where, he said, Russian peacekeepers did not react.

Pashinyan said that it is important that talks on a peace treaty with Azerbaijan are based on principles discussed and agreed to in Brussels by both sides.

However, he faulted Azerbaijan for “artificially delaying” discussions, pointing out that Baku has backed out of four scheduled meetings in the past two months.

“Our negotiation package was delayed because Azerbaijan refused to attend four consecutive scheduled meetings. Even now, however, I believe that the negotiations should continue on the specific points of the peace treaty,” Pashinyan added.

Meeting with the Council of Europe President Charles Michel on Monday, Armenia’s new ambassador to the EU, Tigran Balayan, claimed that Azerbaijan cancelled the October summits as part of its “continuous attempts to derail the peace process.” Balayan also reportedly urged the EU to help ensure “Baku’s return to the negotiation table.”

James O’Brien, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia, visited Baku earlier this month in a bid to convince the Azerbaijani leadership to reschedule the cancelled meeting of the foreign ministers. The conflicting sides have not yet announced any agreement to that effect.