“Talks With Aliyev Was Extensive but Difficult” Says PM Pashinyan

YEREVAN — Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan described his latest talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev as “not easy” but gave no other details on Thursday.

“The discussion was extensive, the discussion was not easy,” he said the day after the talks hosted by European Council President Charles Michel in Brussels. He stressed that Armenia’s goals remain unchanged.

“As I have stated in my public speeches, the Republic of Armenia has adopted the peace agenda, and we need resoluteness to call it to life. It’s not easy, the possible solutions are not obvious, but we must continue to work consistently,” he said.

He stressed that it is a necessity and the people’s desire that lasting and comprehensive peace is established in the region as soon as possible, “and we must concentrate on solving this issue.”

Michel said late on Wednesday that Aliyev and Pashinian agreed to intensify negotiations on an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty sought by Baku. The Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers will meet in September to “work on draft texts,” he said in a statement.

“Clearly, Azerbaijan will try to secure solutions maximally beneficial for it,” said Vigen Khachatryan, an Armenian pro-government parliamentarian. “Our objective is the opposite. Our aim is to guarantee the territorial integrity of Armenia and the kind of conditions for the people of Artsakh that would not jeopardize their life in their homeland.”