Trilateral statement does not define Karabakh's status - Pashinyan

Baku / 14.10.20 / Turan: The trilateral statement on Nagorno-Karabakh is not a document of a political settlement, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in an interview with Public Television of Armenia on the evening of November 13. “This is a document on the cessation of hostilities and is not a document of a political settlement. There are terms, proposals that must be interpreted and get political content,” Pashinyan said.

He said that he would discuss this document within the government, and he did not hear any proposals to denounce the document from his opponents. “We can just take and tear this paper, but we must be aware of the consequences. This means that we are returning to the situation before the signing,” he said. “Our army fought until the last minute. The decision to end the war was made when it became clear that the fight had no sense,” he said, noting that the decision was made after the fall of Shushi.

“I said that I could not surrender Shusha, but stopping the war before that would have led to the fact that Shusha would have been captured anyway,” the Armenian Prime Minister said.

Referring to the benefits of the truce, Pashinyan noted that Armenia may get the opportunity to use the railway through Nakhichevan to Iran, but the borders with Turkey will not be open.

In his words, the Armenian-Turkish border will not open, since Turkey is not a participant in the trilateral statement on Karabakh.

“We also want a second road to Russia. Thanks to this document, such clauses can be implemented. This is a matter of negotiations,” Pashinyan said, without specifying whether he means the road through Azerbaijan. The presence of Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh is a guarantor of the non-resumption of the war, Pashinyan said.

“This is a guarantee that in the conditions of their presence a war will not start or will not receive volume. The meaning of the presence of Russian peacekeepers is to provide conditions for the normal life of the population of Karabakh,” he said.

He noted that Armenia continues to fight for the right of the people of Karabakh.

“For this, our compatriots must return to their homes. Now there are Russian peacekeepers who provide security. Investments will be made, infrastructure will be restored,” the Armenian Prime Minister said.

Referring to the negotiation process, he said that for 25 years the negotiations had only dealt with the issue of surrendering seven regions to Azerbaijan. “Items about status, about self-determination were not specific. What does this mean in practice? Azerbaijan, for example, says that self-determination can occur within its composition. Only the return of seven districts was determined on the negotiating table,” Pashinyan said. According to him, the Karabakh issue has not received a final solution there with a trilateral statement. -02D-