Pashinyan: Armenia is ready to recognize Nagorno-Karabakh

Armenia is ready to recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said. He specified that he was ready to do this if the rights of the Armenian population were respected.

“86,600 sq. km include the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, but at the same time we are saying that the issue of the rights and security of the people of NK should be discussed in the Stepanakert-Baku format. <…> And if we understand each other correctly with Azerbaijan, then Armenia recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan within the named limits, and Baku recognizes the territorial integrity of Armenia in 29,800 square meters. km”, – added he (quote from Sputnik Armenia).

In early May, Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers Ararat Mirzoyan and Jeyhun Bayramov met in Arlington, USA. On May 4, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken reported that the parties had made tangible progress towards a peace agreement. On May 17, Pashinyan confirmed this, pointing to progress in negotiations with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, which were mediated by European Council President Charles Michel in Brussels on May 14.

In April, Pashinyan stated that a peace agreement between Yerevan and Baku is possible if both countries “without ambiguities and pitfalls” recognize each other’s territorial integrity. According to the politician, Armenia recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and expects the same from Baku. Aliyev called on the Armenians who live in the Karabakh region to either accept Azerbaijani citizenship or move.

The situation around Nagorno-Karabakh escalated in September 2020, when hostilities began in the region between the military of Armenia and Azerbaijan. As a result, a tripartite statement was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Hostilities have completely ceased in the conflict zone, and Russian peacekeepers have also been deployed along the line of contact and in the Lachin corridor. In 2022, the situation escalated again, and the State Border Service of Azerbaijan installed a checkpoint in the Lachin corridor, on the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia.

On April 23, the State Border Service of Azerbaijan established a checkpoint in the Lachin corridor. After the end of the 44-day war in 2020, this route is under the responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping forces. The Russian Foreign Ministry condemned Baku’s unilateral steps to install a checkpoint.

May 21 Russian peacekeepers fixed violation of the ceasefire regime in two regions of Nagorno-Karabakh. The ceasefire regime, according to the RF Ministry of Defense, was violated in the Martuni and Shusha regions. No harm done.