Armenian MFA: “The alternative to peace in Karabakh would be a disaster”

Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan has stated that the alternative to peace in Karabakh would be a disaster, and that the only way forward is through a peaceful settlement.

Is there a concrete plan?

Mnatsakanyan believes that preparing for peace implies several measures that must be taken on both sides, but did not state which. He also said that there is no clear formula for a peaceful settlement yet, but that there is no other solution to this conflict:

“There is no alternative to peace. The alternative to peace [would spell] disaster.”

On 16 January 2018, after a meeting between the Foreign Ministry of Armenia and Azerbaijan, the media carried stories that both nations would be “prepared for peace”.

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 “There are no secret agreements” 

Mnatsakanyan also commented on rumors that secret, closed-door agreements concerning the Karabakh conflict are being made away from the eyes of the public. He assured the public these are simply rumors and that there is no need to panic.

“There is nothing you don’t know … I am surprised at the conversations [one hears] in society [today] that we have lost or lost something. Where do such ideas come from? There is nothing of the sort [going on], and we have not lost anything from our position. There is nothing that we would do and [then] not inform the public [about it].”