Armenia's PM says decades-old Armenian claims hinder peace in Caucasus

Decades-old Armenian claims on Azerbaijan's region of Karabakh hinder the establishment of peace in the Caucasus region, said the country’s Prime Minister.

"I wonder, does our state policy have to be based on the decision by the National Council of Karabakh and the (Soviet era) Supreme Council of Armenia, according to which Armenia and Karabakh should be united, as stipulated in the (1990 Armenian) Declaration of Independence? If so, it means that we are going to have a war now, we will not achieve peace," Nikol Pashinyan told Armenian Public Radio in an interview on Thursday.

At the same time, he said that Armenia must have a combat-ready army to defend its territory "within the borders of the former Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic."

Pashinyan also criticised the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, the Russia-led military bloc, for not helping in the issue of Karabakh, not mentioning how the organisation was established to defend its member countries in case of aggression while Karabakh is an internationally recognised territory of Azerbaijan.

Armenia criticised Russia’s refusal to fight for Armenia, and said that after the events in Karabakh "for a number of reasons, the Russian Federation cannot be Armenia's main partner in the defence and military-technical spheres."

Relations between Armenian and Azerbaijan have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Karabakh, a territory internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

Azerbaijan liberated most of the region during a 44-day war in the fall of 2020, and last September, the Azerbaijani army initiated an anti-terrorism operation in Karabakh, and liberated the rest of its territories, ending 30 years Armenian occupation.