PM Pashinyan: Resigning wouldn't solve Armenia's problems

Embattled Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said he would resign instantly if that would solve Armenia's problems, but that he believed it would only make things worse.

His comment on Wednesday to an opposition member of parliament reflected the mounting pressure on Pashinyan since neighbouring Azerbaijan seized back control of Karabakh last month.

Since then, more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians have left for Armenia, a country of 2.8 million.

Pashinyan, in power since 2018, said Armenia had always faced challenges.

"I’ll say it straight: If I know that, for example, by my resignation or removal all these challenges will be resolved, I'll do it the very next second because, unlike you, I do not cling and have never clung to my chair," the state news agency Armenpress quoted him as saying.

"But all my analysis shows that this will lead to exactly the opposite result. And this is also the reason why it isn't happening."

EU talks amid Aliyev's absence

Protesters have called for Pashinyan to quit over the fate of Karabakh, a region internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, but has been under Armenian occupation since the break up of the Soviet Union in the 90's.

Pashinyan said earlier he would attend European Union-brokered talks in Spain on Thursday even though Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev had pulled out, according to Azerbaijani state media.

The two neighbours have fought two wars over Karabakh in the past 30 years, and efforts by the EU, the United States and Russia have yet to convince them to sign a peace treaty.