Lukashenko blames Armenian leadership for Karabakh events

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has held Armenia’s leadership responsible for the recent events in Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region. 

Speaking at a meeting with representatives of different nationalities in Belarus, Lukashenko emphasized that he had previously urged for a peaceful settlement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Caliber.Az reports citing Russian media.

Lukashenko stated, “The situation in Karabakh is entirely the fault of Armenia’s leadership. I personally warned them: to return those territories to Azerbaijan. Moreover, they (ed. Armenian authorities) had already acknowledged that these lands 'aren’t ours'. Yes, these lands aren’t ours, they are Azerbaijani, they said. But we (Armenia) won’t give them up – we’ll fight for them,” Lukashenko said.

The Belarusian leader also highlighted that he had called for a peaceful resolution to the conflict between Yerevan and Baku.

"I even asked Putin to intervene. The two of us started urging Pashinyan: 'Solve this problem!'" Lukashenko recounted. However, according to him, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan responded by saying, “No, we will fight.”

Lukashenko concluded, “They fought, and now, why be upset with Russia or with us?  Pashinyan himself recognised that Karabakh is Azerbaijani territory.”