A regular session of the RA government was held today, chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Before discussing the issues on the agenda, the Prime Minister of Armenia made a speech in which he addressed the ongoing crisis caused by Azerbaijan's illegal blocking of the Lachin Corridor, the country's growing aggressive rhetoric, the peace agenda, the launch of reliable international negotiation mechanisms, and other issues.

Below is the transcript of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's speech.

"Dear participants of the government session,

Dear people,

Azerbaijan marked the 100th day of the illegal blocking of the Lachin Corridor with the 13th shutdown of the natural gas supply to Nagorno Karabakh. This was preceded by the speech of the leader of Azerbaijan in the ethnically cleansed village of Talish in Nagorno-Karabakh, which is difficult to describe other than aggressive. What happened in the town of Talish is fundamental, solid proof of the ethnic cleansing and genocidal policy implemented by Azerbaijan. In that village, depopulated due to the 44-day war, Azerbaijan demolished houses owned by Armenians and built homes for Azerbaijanis instead.

What we have warned about for a long time is now a reality. The leadership of Azerbaijan shows its model of guaranteeing the rights and security of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh or "integration" by demolishing the houses owned by Armenians and building homes for Azerbaijanis instead of them, at the same time erasing the Armenian inscriptions on the ancient Armenian monuments and considering the issue resolved.

These actions are illegal and contradict point 7 of the tripartite statement of November 9, 2020, which, I would like to remind you, states: "Internally displaced persons and refugees are returning to the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent territories of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees under control." This means that March 18 should have been marked by the return of the Armenian population to Talish and not by the vandal act of demolishing their homes.

These actions of the leadership of Azerbaijan were followed by the statement of our compatriots who were deported from Nagorno Karabakh and neighboring regions, who demand from the leaders of the countries that signed the tripartite declaration of November 9, 2020, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to ensure the safe and dignified return of Armenians deported from Nagorno Karabakh and neighboring regions to their historic lands and former settlements, by the obligations assumed in the tripartite declaration of November 9, 2020, human and humanitarian law.

As one of the statement's addressees, I consider the said demand fair. The Government of the Republic of Armenia should take all political and diplomatic measures to protect the authors' rights and beneficiaries of the statement.

Dear participants of the government session,

Dear people,

One central message can be extracted from the speech of the leader of Azerbaijan on March 18. He openly said that Armenia must accept Azerbaijan's conditions and agree to delimit on Azerbaijan's terms. Otherwise, there will be no peace treaty. "There will be no peace agreement," this is a verbatim quote from the words of the President of Azerbaijan.

It is difficult to describe this as an act of aggression against the Republic of Armenia and a gross violation of agreements that reached the highest level. Why? Because in the statement adopted as a result of the quadrilateral meeting on October 6, 2022, it is said - we are talking about the Prague statement: "Armenia and Azerbaijan confirmed their commitment to the UN Charter and the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration, through which both sides recognize each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty. They confirmed that this would be the basis for the work of the commissions on demarcation issues. This is a statement that the leader of Azerbaijan also accepted.

A similar statement was adopted on October 31 of the same year, in Sochi, by the President of the Russian Federation, the Prime Minister of Armenia, and the President of Azerbaijan, where it said: "We agreed to refrain from the use of force or the threat of its use, to discuss and resolve all problematic issues exclusively of sovereignty, based on mutual recognition of territorial integrity and inviolability of borders by the UN Charter and the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration".

After these statements, which are a direct record of the fact that the borders of the Soviet republics have become state borders, Azerbaijan continues to talk about delimitation based on some historical maps, which is unacceptable, for the simple reason that it contradicts the highest level. Written agreements reached. 

This behavior of Azerbaijan to violate the agreements was why we insist that reliable international mechanisms are needed to implement the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace treaty and the agreements reached in the Stepanakert-Baku format regarding the security and rights of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh—international agents. Azerbaijan's unpunished international agreement violations encourage it to engage in new provocations. Such a monstrous provocation occurred yesterday when the Azerbaijani side killed Arshak Seryozhai Sargsyan, a soldier of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia, with a targeted sniper shot.

Expressing my condolences to the parents and relatives of the killed conscript, I draw the international community's attention to the apparent fact that Azerbaijan is developing the situation to a new escalation. This is further substantiated by the absurd speech of so-called Western Azerbaijan conducted at the state level of Azerbaijan, which is an open act of encroachment on the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia. And in general, I must emphasize that this speech demonstrates that our government has read Azerbaijan's messages correctly from the beginning. This continuous policy and address questioning the right to exist of the Republic of Armenia is the reason for the non-resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Azerbaijan has made a new accusation against the Republic of Armenia that Armenia is a mono-ethnic country with no national minorities in Armenia. First, such formulations are a gross interference in the Republic of Armenia's internal affairs. Not only are there national minorities in Armenia, but they are also represented and have mandates in the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, and the Constitution guarantees this.

Currently, there are 4 MPs representing national minorities in the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, and if speaking on such topics is not interfere with the internal affairs of the country, then let's record that the persecution of not only the press, not only the opposition but also the representatives of national minorities in Azerbaijan is systemic.

The international press is flooded with materials about the murders and imprisonments of leaders protecting the interests of national minorities in Azerbaijan. At the same time, many cases are told by the witnesses, the tortured, persecuted activists, or the family members of the killed activists. Perhaps Azerbaijan will show goodwill and set parliamentary quotas for national minorities in the Milli Mejlis and guarantee it in the constitution. This may be the first step towards correcting the situation.

Dear participants of the government session,

Dear people,

Summing up my speech, I would like to send you and the international community the following message. A peace treaty will be based on written documents obtained at the highest levels to date.

As for what we must do, the Armenian government and the public should engage in daily creative work, building, reforming, creating sound, and strengthening the security system. And we must not for a minute deviate from the development path, enhancing Armenia and our democracy.

Thank you."