Top Armenia diplomat: Russian envoy has taken PM's words out of context

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Russian co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group has taken Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's words out of context when commenting on his article about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Armenian Foreign Minister Ara Aivazian said in parliament on Thursday, January 14.

Popov said Moscow has never reduced the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to the return of seven districts surrounding Karabakh to Azerbaijan, ignoring the question of its status. His comments came in response to an article penned by Prime Minister Pashinyan, in which he argued that the status of Karabakh had been left out of the agenda of negotiations prior to the start of the war.

"The Prime Minister has said what he has said. Popov has made some comments, taken the PM's words out of context. The PM has said other things too," Aivazian was quoted as saying by Aysor.am.

The Foreign Minister said he "definitely agrees" with Popov that the status of Artsakh (Karabakh) was and remains the most important principle of the settlement process.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Russian and Azerbaijani Presidents Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev on November 9 signed a statement to end the war in Karabakh after almost 45 days. Under the deal, the Armenian side has returned all the seven regions surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, having lost a part of Karabakh itself in hostilities.