Pashinyan for Continuing Negotiations, but Needs Clarification from OSCE MG

Baku / 12.03.19 / Turan: The allegations that the Prime Minister of Armenia wants to throw off the burden of responsibility and cannot represent the people of Karabakh are ridiculous. The Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan stated this at a joint meeting of the Security Council of Armenia and the so-called security council of Nagorno-Karabakh on Tuesday.

"In order to avoid any speculations, I consider it necessary to state: the Republic of Armenia was, is and will be Guarantor No. 1 of the security of Karabakh and will continue its participation in the peace process," news.am quotes Pashinyan.

Then Pashinyan stated that it is necessary to answer the question whether Armenia accepts 3 principles and 6 elements proposed by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs as a basis for the negotiation process.

"This is indeed the most important question, and we need clarification: what can these principles mean in practice, and who has the right to comment on them? This is important because the way Azerbaijan interprets these principles is simply unacceptable for us. Of course, we can make our own comments on these principles, but this is useless, because our goal is not in a verbal skirmish, but in an effective negotiation process. Therefore, the basis for the negotiation process should be statements that do not give rise to discrepancies. However, the principles and elements proposed by the co-chairs gave rise to very different interpretations over the past 10 years. Therefore, the main goal of the nearest negotiation process should be clarification of the 3 principles and 6 elements. We are ready for such a conversation," Pashinyan said.

Official Baku and international mediators in the person of the OSCE Minsk Group have not yet commented on this confusing statement by Pashinyan. However, from his words it can be concluded that Armenia will continue negotiations with Azerbaijan. -02D-