RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced today that it is necessary to start substantive negotiations on the peace treaty with Azerbaijan.

"We do not abandon the agreements that have been reached. Now there will be negotiations on drafting the contract's text. There is no paper to sign on the negotiation table now. There was a relevant text related to the opening of communications in the region, which we prepared. Still, the President of Azerbaijan was not ready to sign it," the RA Prime Minister noted.

According to him, if Azerbaijan recognizes our territorial integrity, based on the agreement on establishing cooperation of independent states on December 18, 1991, then RA is ready to go for the mutual recognition of territorial integrity on that basis.

"However, the main beneficiary of the discussion of the Artsakh issue should be the people of Nagorno Karabakh through their elected representatives," Pashinyan said.

Regarding whether to leave the CSTO, the Prime Minister of Armenia said there is a fear in the CSTO that Armenia will leave the CSTO, but according to his wording, there is a fear the CSTO will leave Armenia.

"This is not a word game; this is serious content. We expect a clear political assessment from CSTO. We received unequivocal assurances that the border of Armenia is a "red line" for CSTO. Last year when the events of Sotk-Khoznavar took place, we applied to the CSTO. We received an answer that the border is demarcated and not restricted. In that case, where does that "red line" pass? To say that there is no border between Armenia and Azerbaijan means to say that there is no CSTO because it has a zone of responsibility marked by borders," the Prime Minister stressed.

According to him, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Alexey Overchuk has always made precise assessments. He presented the facts about which they had discussions.

"It is essential that other bodies of the Russian government, which are related to the topic, do not take any action that would cast doubt on the sincerity of the publicly formulated positions. Have there been such things? Yes, and we have formulated these issues before our Russian partners," Pashinyan said.

He noted that Azerbaijan continuously makes aggressive statements, trying to place territorial claims against Armenia in the footnotes.

"We are not against the opening of roads. To clearly express our desire, we even have a name for the project: "Armenian Crossroads." With this, we show that we consider this case our own," said the Prime Minister.

Referring to the international partners, Nikol Pashinyan stressed that neither Moscow, Brussels, nor Washington is ready to recognize the independence of Karabakh and are not prepared to acknowledge Karabakh as part of Armenia, and we must face this fact.

"As for Nancy Pelosi's visit, that visit to Armenia was not anti-Russian; there is no need to give an anti-Russian context. The visit was a step aimed at deepening Armenian-American relations, which should not be underestimated. As for Iran, we have close cooperation in various fields.

Regarding the purchase of weapons from India, I can say that the purchase of weapons and military equipment is not a topic that should be discussed publicly. Still, I must say that RA did not deny the publications in the Indian press. We are taking active steps to increase the scope of our cooperation in the military-technical sphere," said the Prime Minister.

Referring to the possible meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Prime Minister stressed that he has decided to go to Prague and participate in the EU summit. He cannot say whether the meeting with Erdogan will occur, but it is not excluded that the meeting will happen anyway.