Pashinyan Comments on His Statements Made in Munich

The Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, reiterated his statement made during the Munich Security Conference that there are no territories for Nagorno-Karabakh, but rather security, and Artsakh cannot compromise its security. Pashinyan made this remark in an interview with Public Television.

“We say that the status quo was established when the self-defense forces of Artsakh took control of those territories to push Azerbaijan's aggressive actions as far away from Nagorno-Karabakh as possible, making them inaccessible. If there is an equally effective proposal for ensuring security, let that proposal be formulated, and the Armenian people will discuss whether it is acceptable for them or not,” said Pashinyan.

The Prime Minister also addressed the existing speculations regarding territorial integrity. “Nagorno-Karabakh gained independence in the same way that Azerbaijan did. When talking about the principle of territorial integrity, which country’s principle of territorial integrity are we discussing? When Azerbaijan gained independence, did it preserve the territorial integrity of the Soviet Union? A counter-argument might arise that the Soviet Union no longer exists, but the state that included Nagorno-Karabakh also does not exist; that state was the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. This discourse has nuances that need to be considered,” he stated.

Nikol Pashinyan reaffirmed that any solution to the issue must be acceptable to the peoples of Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Azerbaijan, emphasizing that the Nagorno-Karabakh issue cannot have a military solution.

On February 15, at the Munich Security Conference, a discussion was held regarding the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh, which featured the participation of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.