Nikol Pashinyan on the settlement the Karabakh conflict

Baku / 26.07.18 / Turan: Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, is convinced that Russia has every opportunity to not allow Azerbaijan to start a war, he stated this in an interview with Radio Ekho Moskvy.

"I think that Russia has all the mechanisms to prevent a war, and I cannot believe that Russia will refuse to use these mechanisms to prevent war," he said.

Being asked about a possible meeting between Pashinyan and Aliyev, the Armenian prime minister said that the Russian president had already introduced them to the World Cup, but "unfortunately, this acquaintance did not become very effective, because Ilham Aliyev also participated in the NATO summit, but there we did not greet each other," Pashinyan said.

Commenting on his son's military service in Karabakh, Pashinyan said that his son went there as a volunteer. Many interpret this as an aggressive gesture, but in fact, the opposite is true.

"This is a peaceable gesture, because, I think, we all understand that when I send my son to Karabakh, I do not want the war to begin there; an I do not want my son and the sons of my other compatriots, and the sons of Azerbaijan, the sons of Azerbaijani ordinary citizens were killed.

I would be happy if President Ilham Aliyev sent his son to serve there, too. Because if his son also served there, maybe I would take this as a peaceable gesture, because we would all be sure that Mr. Aliyev will not want his son to perish either," Pashinyan said. He acknowledged that Azerbaijan is preparing for war and Armenia is taking retaliatory measures.

When asked whether the Karabakh conflict can be solved in principle, Pashinyan gave an affirmative answer, however he declined to specify what compromise the Armenian side is prepared for, saying: "Is Azerbaijan ready for a compromise?". -02D-