"NK Armenians' right to live in their homes must be ensured by Russia" - Pashinyan

Pashinyan’s speech on the situation in NK and Armenia

Immediately after the authorities of the unrecognized NKR announced that they had accepted the ceasefire proposal of the Russian peacekeeping contingent, the Armenian Prime Minister addressed the nation. In his speech, Nikol Pashinyan first of all emphasized that “the Republic of Armenia did not participate in the formation of this text in any way and was not a party to the discussions”.

In this regard, he made a remark about the mentioning of the Armenian Armed Forces and the remaining Armenian units in NK. He emphasized that this text is not understandable, given the absence of the Armenian army on the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh since August 2021. “In any case, we take note of this statement and the acceptance of this statement by the Nagorno-Karabakh authorities.”

The prime minister also spoke of the need to ensure “the rights of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh to live in their homes, on their land, to live with dignity and security.” And now the peacekeepers, who made such a proposal, in his opinion should “fully and without any reservations accept a full-fledged obligation” to ensure people’s safety.

Pashinyan’s third remark concerned Armenia’s involvement in military actions. In his assessment, “the main goal should be the independence and sovereignty of the Republic of Armenia.”

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“A little while ago, we learned from the official information sources of Nagorno-Karabakh that the authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh accepted the proposal of the command of the Russian peacekeeping troops regarding the cessation of fire. This refers to the military operations that started as a result of the attack launched by Azerbaijan yesterday afternoon.

Of course, we got acquainted with the text, and since the Republic of Armenia did not participate in the formation of that text in any way and was not a party to the discussions, the first observation is that the text mentions the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia and talks about the remaining units of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia in Nagorno Karabakh.

First, this fact is not very understandable for us, in the conditions when we have repeatedly said that since August 2021, the Republic of Armenia does not have an army in Nagorno-Karabakh, but in any case, we take note of this statement and its acceptance by the authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The next issue I want to address is the issue of the security of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, and it is logically assumed that if the peacekeepers have made such a proposal, this means that they have fully and now without reservations accepted the full obligation to ensure the security of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, by which they should ensure full conditions in order to preserve the right of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh to live in their homes, on their land, to live with dignity and safety. And my perception is that with this statement they fully assumes that responsibility. Although we have always been of the opinion that this responsibility is essentially placed on the peacekeeping mission of the Russian Federation by the tripartite statement of November 9, 2020, but we hope that by taking such a step the peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation will fully fulfill its duties, about which in the previous period, you know we had some reservations.

Also, my reaction is that mentioning the name of the Republic of Armenia in a text that has nothing to do with the Republic of Armenia justifies my yesterday’s hypothesis, approach and assessment that one of the goals of the attack against Nagorno Karabakh was to involve the Republic of Armenia in military operations. And, of course, my assessment is that if it were possible to involve the Republic of Armenia in military operations, its main target would be the independence and sovereignty of the Republic of Armenia.

And in this sense, my assessment has at least a very serious right to exist, at least in the context of today’s events, but it is also my assessment and my conviction in some sense. In any case, I repeat, we take note of what happened and will continue to follow the developments.

The latest information that I have managed to get from Nagorno-Karabakh is that the intensity of military operations has decreased sharply, I cannot say that it has decreased to zero, but it has decreased sharply. And we hope that the military escalation will not continue because, especially in these circumstances, stability and cessation of hostilities is very important. And we’ll continue to monitor developments, and if we have additional assessment or something to say on this, of course, we will share that with you.

Now the most important issue is that the right of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians to live in their homes is fully ensured by the Russian Federation. And from a practical point of view, we will follow the events and, of course, we will also have some exchange of ideas with our international partners regarding this situation and if we have additional assessments or something to say, we will definitely share it with you.”

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Pashinyan’s speech on the situation in NK and Armenia