Pashinyan, Tonoyan Admit Russia Saved Armenians from Complete Defeat, Name Reasons for Defeat

Baku / 11.11.20 / Turan: Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said today that he signed an agreement to end the Karabakh war with the Presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan in order to avoid collapse.

“Stepanakert remained defenseless, and if the hostilities continued, there was a possibility of capturing Stepanakert, Martuni and Askeran. After that, our defensive lines up to the seventh line could be surrounded and thousands of soldiers would be surrounded and would perish, as a result of which a complete collapse would occur. On the basis of this assessment, such a decision was made,” Pashinyan said live on his Facebook page.

In turn, Armenian Defense Minister David Tonoyan said on Public TV that an agreement to end the war with the deployment of Russian peacekeepers is the best option.

“In terms of deploying Russian peacekeepers, this is the best option in the current situation. We thank Russia for this assistance. "

“The Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff regularly presented the operational situation to the head of state, and this decision was made as a result of a very serious analysis. The events around Shushi (Shusha – ed.) were very dynamic. For example, there were cases when our press secretary presented one situation, and at that time it was changing. The city was surrounded, but the heroic struggle continued. At some time we had an advantage,” Tonoyan said.

“As for the logistics, the impossible was done. The mobilization resource has been maximized. We acted in a total blockade,” the minister said.

When asked why the society was not informed about this, the minister said: "We presented the situation very correctly, with correct information, and at some point it was also necessary to mislead the enemy."

"I consider it offensive to say that the agreement to end the Karabakh war is a betrayal or defeat, since the Armed Forces, the entire system of the Ministry of Defense, and the government did their best."

According to him, an unfavorable geopolitical situation was created when the Armenian side acted in conditions of a total blockade of arms and equipment supplies.

“We opposed a very large force - the super-armed army of Azerbaijan. I may be asked why we weren't armed. We were also armed, but in terms of quantity and resources, our capabilities were disproportionate,” the minister said. -02D-