Why Armenia Did Not Recognize the Independence of Artsakh During the War: Pashinyan Explains

According to Nikol Pashinyan, Armenia did not recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh during the 44-day war because doing so would have made it impossible to stop the war even on November 9. This was stated during an open session of the Investigation Committee established by the National Assembly of Armenia to study the circumstances of the military actions that began on September 27, 2020.

Vahagn Aleksanyan, a member of the Civil Contract faction, recalled the observation made by the Vice President of the Republican Party, Armen Ashtoyan, questioning why Pashinyan did not speak about the possibility of recognizing Artsakh's independence during the 44-day war. “Wasn’t that our diplomatic weapon?” asked Ashtoyan.

Pashinyan responded, “Why didn’t they recognize independence during the 2016 four-day war? You could have used the weapon and gotten out of this story.” He explained that the reason for not recognizing Nagorno-Karabakh's independence during the 44-day war was quite simple: “Even on November 9, it would not have been possible to stop that war.”