Armenian prime minister discloses details on Sochi meeting, relationship with Türkiye

During a parliamentary hearing for the planning of the Armenian government budget for 2023, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan gave a speech in which he commented on his meetings with foreign leaders in recent weeks, namely Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Türkiye’s Recep Tayyib Erdogan.

As Caliber.Az reports citing Armenian media outlets, the Prime Minister reminded his parliament, that he has held a phone call with the Turkish Leaders followed by an in-person bilateral meeting in Prague.

"You might ask, well, a meeting is good and well, but did the situation somehow change? I believe, that a very important change to the situation occurred, which, of course, by itself does not offer a significant or practical result. But by analyzing the surrounding atmosphere, I understood, that owing to the contacts with the Turkish side in August-October of this year we were able to overcome communicational difficulties", he stated.

"It is possible that this might be a too weak and insignificant argument”, Pashinyan admitted, adding "but in the past, the question has always remained: should we meet or not? Talk or not talk? Now we don’t have this dilemma, by the way not only on a governmental but on the societal level as well".

At the same parliamentary hearing, the prime minister also disclosed details of an instance during his meeting with the leaders of Azerbaijan and Russia in Sochi.

"We have proposed to extend the mandate to an uncertain period, maybe 5 years, maybe 20. And although it was not accepted, from my point of view this matter has gained relevance and will be included in the agenda", the prime minister announced.

Pashinyan further stated, that "the presence of the peacekeepers in Karabakh is the most essential guarantor for providing security and rights to the Armenians of Karabakh until reliable mechanism and guarantees are not established".

Russia’s Vladimir Putin pointed out during the trilateral meeting in Sochi that a consideration of the mandate extension will have to be based on a joint agreement, which will rely on the possibility of signing a peace deal and agreeing on the demarcation and delimitation of state borders.

The Armenian government has taken significant steps in recent weeks in their foreign policy by participating in multiple meetings with different leaders, including with their neighbour Türkiye.

Armenia and Türkiye do not have any diplomatic relations, with the state border remaining closed since 1993 on Ankara's initiative.

In December 2021, the two countries appointed their special representatives that will lead negotiations for a normalization of the ties. The Armenian Vice-Speaker of the National Assembly, Ruben Rubinyan is representing his country while the former Ambassador to the USA, Serdar Kilic, was appointed on the Turkish side. Four rounds of meetings have already been held with one of them in Moscow and the remaining in Vienna.