YEREVAN. April 18 (Interfax) - Peace in the South Caucasus is possible provided that Yerevan settles its relationship with Baku and Ankara, and if the parties drop all claims to each other's territory, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said.
"Peace implies settled relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey. How achievable is this? How much are Azerbaijan's actions focused on peace? And if compromises are achieved at the political and diplomatic level, how acceptable might they be for Armenian citizens, and to what extent will Armenian citizens allow occasionally painful compromises to be implemented efficiently?" Pashinyan said while presenting the government's action program for the period up to 2026 in the Armenian parliament.
The Armenian authorities "should make sure that citizens understand the process of our actions, and then it will be acceptable to them," he said.
"Peace is possible if we stipulate in our international relations that we recognize the Republic of Armenia as a territory 29,800 square kilometers in size, or more specifically, the territory of the [former] Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, and that we don't have and will never have any territorial claims on any country," Pashinyan said.
Otherwise, nobody will allow Armenia to develop, he said.
"Nobody will accept the idea that we are developing and are directing this force against others to expand our country's territory. In this case, others will seek not only to prevent our country's development, but also to prevent the existence of Armenia as a state. And nobody will help us in this situation. This is not a theory, I'm speaking about reality," Pashinyan said.
"I'd like to reiterate that Armenia fully recognizes Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and expects the same from Azerbaijan, namely the recognition of the entire territory of the Armenian SSR as the Republic of Armenia," Pashinyan said.
Stability and peace in the South Caucasus can serve as a consensus between Russia and the West, he said.
"Directly or indirectly, Azerbaijan is becoming or has already become an energy and logistical crossroads, and its importance for Russia and some Western countries has been growing. However, this situation involves both risks and opportunities. We see the risks every day, and the opportunity is that the South Caucasus is a big crossroads in itself, in which Armenia and Georgia play a no less important role," Pashinyan said.
"If our region explodes again, this would be a problem both for Russia and the West, at least in terms of energy, with all the ensuing consequences. However, the world also depends on us and our position. It is my sincere desire to do my utmost to sign a peace agreement with Azerbaijan as soon as possible," he said.