YEREVAN, JULY 20, ARMENPRESS. There will be no solution to the Artsakh conflict without the participation of the people of Artsakh, Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said during a press conference in the government, reports Armenpress.

“It is stated in all working documents that Artsakh should be fully involved in the process of the final stage of the Artsakh conflict settlement”, the PM said.

Pashinyan said that before this, however, there can be discussions over this issue. “I have announced that I am ready to negotiate with the Azerbaijani president and I also repeat it now. There is a negotiation material, we need to get acquainted with it, analyze and negotiate. The negotiations are also useful since a certain atmosphere of trust should be created for the settlement of the conflict. Without that the conflict settlement is impossible”, the Armenian PM said, once again stating that the Armenian side is ready to make efforts to create an atmosphere for the conflict settlement.

PM Nikol Pashinyan said Armenia considers unacceptable the militaristic and aggressive rhetoric run by Azerbaijan. “We tell the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and the international community that we are ready to make sincere efforts for the Artsakh conflict settlement. However, we all need to record that this requires an atmosphere for the settlement. You will not see any action by Armenia and its people which undermines that atmosphere”, he said.

He repeated the previously made statement according to which after the revolution in Armenia, the increase of Azerbaijan’s aggressive behavior is linked with the fear of the Azerbaijani authorities that their people can be encouraged by the recent democratic changes in Armenia. “They may fear that the process can be transported to Azerbaijan, therefore, they are trying to distract their society’s attention from the corruption and democracy situation in the country to the Artsakh conflict, to continue the traditional hostile policy”, PM said, adding that what happened in Armenia was a pure domestic political process.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan