Lawmaker explains why Armenia is not invalidating November 9 statement

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. Armenia should not withdraw from the 9 November 2020 trilateral statement in order to resolve the outstanding issues, MP Andranik Kocharyan has said.

The 9 November 2020 trilateral statement was signed between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. The statement is unofficially known as the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement.  

Armenia has numerously accused both Azerbaijan and Russia of failing to comply with the terms of the agreement. Violations include the Azeri military takeover of Nagorno-Karabakh three years after the agreement was signed, the preceding blockade, failure to release all Armenian hostages and POWs, as well as Russia’s failure to maintain the ceasefire, among others. 

“Many are asking why Armenia isn’t withdrawing from the agreement and withdrawing its signature from the statement,” Kocharyan, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Defense and Security Affairs told reporters. “Armenia should not withdraw its signature, so that the outstanding issues are possible to be solved diplomatically at some moment. The possibility of return of the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians can be viewed in this too. The two other parties of the statement, nevertheless, have not fulfilled their obligations.”

Asked on the manipulations around the so-called Zangezur corridor, the MP said these issues will be resolved within the framework of the peace treaty’s logic.