The President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan gave interview to the Wall Street Journal

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 9, ARMENPRESS. The people of Nagorno Karabakh want to live free and decide its fate on its own. The proposal of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs is anchored on this very idea. As reports "Armenpress" the President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan spoke about this in the interview to The Wall Street Journal. The President stated: "We are ready to make compromises, we are ready to settle the issue as swiftly as possible and we call on Azerbaijan to follow suit. That is the most rational path to pursuit, the most rational solution and it would serve as a best way out. I am almost confident that Azerbaijan indeed seeks to give a new turn to the development, that is to renew military hostilities. They are just expecting to opportune moment for that. But to what extent carrying out those planning will succeed is conditioned upon the position of international community and the level of combat readiness of the Armenian Armed Forces." In his opinion it's necessary to realize both the consequences and the root causes of the previous war. Claims on addressing only the consequences of the war do not have any future.

The President of the Republic of Armenia stated: "The situation is intense, but I should say that I have never made any bellicose statement. We merely respond to the Azeris that mattering about military hostility is unnecessary. Moreover, the resumption of military hostility will harm Nagorno Karabakh, will harm Armenia, but first and foremost it will necessarily harm Azerbaijan." He emphasized that the Armenian Forces will disproportionably counterattack, if Azerbaijan resumes the military actions. Armenia cannot stand aside, when the people of Nagorno Karabakh is under attack.

The President also underlined that Armenia is increasingly concerned with the perspective of the military hostility against Iran. That will give way to a chain of consequences, which can cause the military hostility between Yerevan and Baku. Sargsyan highlighted the importance of integrity of the international community in the situation in the region to assist to calm down the intense relations of Armenia and Azerbaijan. The President stated: "If we were living in an isolated region, where the international community had no influence, the war had already be resumed."

The President of the Republic of Armenia also mentioned that the Government is doing its best to solve the problems regarding corruption and that Armenia's economy had posted a 7% expansion in the year through September.