RT: Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has announced a peace deal with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, mediated by Russia. The content of the arrangement is “unbelievably painful” and “not a victory,” he said.
Pashinyan said he personally made the “very difficult” decision, as a result of the current military situation, believing it to be the best under the circumstances.
“I kneel before all our victims, I bow to all our soldiers, fighters, generals and volunteers, who have protected their homeland with their lives. They have saved Artsakh,” Pashinyan wrote in a Facebook post, using the Armenian term for Nagorno-Karabakh.
“We fought till the end. And we will win. Artsakh stands.”
While this is not a victory, the PM said, it will need to signal a rebirth of Armenian national unity. Pashinyan called for Armenians to “re-examine our years of independence so we can plan our future and not repeat the mistakes of the past.”
The Azerbaijani military and ethnic Armenian forces have been clashing over Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed ethnic Armenian enclave, since the end of September. The fighting has continued despite multiple ceasefires arranged by Moscow, as well as Washington. The situation is aggravated by the fact that Azerbaijan is actively supported by Turkey, a NATO member, while Armenia is a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization – a military alliance with Russia.
