Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s Address on the Washington Agreements and Their Impact on Armenia and the Region

YEREVAN — Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan delivered an address to the citizens of Armenia, outlining the content of the agreements reached in Washington on August 8 and their implications for Armenia and the broader region.

The Prime Minister stated that, as is well known, peace has been established between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan, and that the role of U.S. President Donald Trump in this achievement has been invaluable.

“Since August 8, we have been living in an entirely different, completely new South Caucasus. We have been living in an entirely different, completely new Republic of Armenia, and this fact must be recognized. We, the citizens of the Third Republic, do not know what it means to live in peace, to work in peace. This is an unfamiliar feeling for us, because since the first days of our independence, we have lived in an atmosphere of conflict—either in war or in a state of neither war nor peace. We must learn from scratch what it means to live in peace, to understand what peace is, what it feels like, and what it looks like,” Pashinyan said.

According to the Prime Minister, following the Washington agreements, Armenia will be unblocked after more than 30 years of blockade.

“The new logic of peace is that when we say there are sovereign territories of the Republic of Armenia under Azerbaijani control, we must also acknowledge that there are sovereign territories of Azerbaijan under our control. This mutual issue must be resolved within the framework of the border delimitation process,” he stated.

Pashinyan also emphasized that “peace is impossible without closing the Karabakh issue, and the idea of the return of displaced persons from Karabakh is unrealistic.”

“All those who disagree with this strategy, whether willingly or unwillingly, fall into the logic of reviving the conflict. Our compatriots displaced from Karabakh must settle in Armenia, live here, create, and establish themselves as full-fledged citizens of the Republic of Armenia,” the Prime Minister insisted.