Pashinyan: Nobody promised that it was going to be easy to reach peace

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan gave an interview to Euronews TV, Armenian Government’s Press office reports.

Euronews – You have just been back from Brussels, where you met the President of Azerbaijan, you have met several times, including with the mediation of the EU. These peace talks have been filling many people with hope of lasting peace in this region. Can there be peace and what can you tell us about these talks in Brussels?

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan – Not only there can, but also must be peace. This is my belief, my position, this is what I believe in. But for this to happen, it is also very important for the international community to be aware of important nuances, to be clear why there isn’t progress at a sufficient pace.

Let me go back to our penultimate meeting in Brussels, when we agreed, reached an agreement with the President of Azerbaijan in the presence of European Council President Charles Michel, that Armenia and Azerbaijan mutually recognize each other’s territorial integrity with 29.800 sq.km in the case of Armenia and 86.600 sq.km in the case of Azerbaijan. After that, Charles Michel made a statement about that, after which when an Armenian journalist asked me about it, I publicly confirmed that fact. Up to this point the President of Azerbaijan has not publicly confirmed that agreement. He has not denied it either, but this is a subtlety that creates a certain lack of trust.

And we also have an understanding that there should be a dialogue between Baku and Stepanakert, the capital and main city of Nagorno Karabakh, about the rights and security of the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh in the framework of an international mechanism. And this dialogue has not taken place so far either. But we need to follow up for this, we need to work for this, nobody promised that it was going to be easy to reach peace. If it were easy, it would have long ago been achieved.