Could we have avoided this war? the RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan touched upon the question live on Facebook.
"There was one possibility - handing over 5 territories without clarifying the status of Karabakh. And this was the negotiation legacy that our government received. Moreover, this situation has lasted for a long time in the negotiation process. One thing was clear in the negotiation process that the 7 regions should be handed over to Azerbaijan. In other words, this was the only and clear formulation of the negotiation process ", Pashinyan said.
The Prime Minister detailed that the issue of the status of Nagorno Karabakh was also discussed. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan, having acquired certain financial capabilities, prepared for the war step by step, first pushing Artsakh out of the negotiating table, then the issue of Karabakh having a status outside Azerbaijan was removed from the discussion.
"One thing was clear and tangible in the negotiation process: the territories must be returned. Constantly maneuvering, the Armenian side has somehow postponed the issue, but the work clearly set in the negotiations can be delayed for 5, 10, 20 years. But, finally, the time comes when a situation arises when the international community has a consensus, and since the issue of clarifying the status of Karabakh is a very difficult issue, and we have a specific issue on the table - the handover of territories to Azerbaijan, so let's solve that issue and move on to the other isuues. As of May 2018, this was a consensus between the co-chairs. Even before 2018, in 2016, it was an urgent need to implement this. The war of 2016 stopped on that very condition", said Nikol Pashinyan.
According to the Prime Minister, they learned about the possibility of war, trained the armed forces, and Azerbaijan, realizing in the summer that it could not win the war with its armed forces, involved Turkey and mercenary terrorists in hostilities.
"A situation was created when the Armenian army was fighting against three forces at once. Our army fought heroically, our soldiers fought selflessly, our generals and officers showed indescribable examples of heroism, but in the end we came to the point where the army asked the political leadership that this problem should be solved a as soon as it possible. The leadership of Artsakh also set this task. It is in this painful situation that decision has been made", Pashinyan said.
