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During the parliamentary briefings held in the NA on May 4, the deputy of the Civil Contract Faction Vahagn Aleksanyan touched upon the sexual insults of the former Chief of police directed at journalists the day before and strongly condemned such an attitude. Sargis Khandanyan also congratulated the journalists on yesterday’s Press Freedom Day and said that according to the 2023 report of the organization Reporters Without Borders, the positions of Armenia has improved again in terms of press freedom.

To the journalist’s question whether it is possible that Nikol Pashinyan signs a peace treaty with Azerbaijan with unacceptable parameters, the deputy of the faction Vahagn Aleksanyan assured that no.

“The Prime Minister said that in order to sign a peace treaty, it is possible that unacceptable conditions will be proposed by Azerbaijan, but it is necessary to make them acceptable,” the deputy said.

The issue of purchasing and supplying arms from India was also debated. The journalist noticed that the former deputy Gayane Abrahamyan stated that the Russian Federation prevents the RA from transporting the ammunition purchased from India to RA, in response to which Vahagn Aleksanyan informed that he was not aware of such a topic and urged not to expand public discussions on the topic of arms purchase and transfer.

Reference was also made to the issue of Artsakh.

In response to the following question whether the issues of security and self-determination of the people of Artsakh are being discussed in Washington, whether the people of Artsakh wonder that Artsakh will be part of Azerbaijan or not, Sargis Khandanyan noted:

“Armenian negotiators talk and negotiate on all platforms on the topics of addressing the rights and security of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh. The authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh are also informed about the content and nuances of the negotiations. Nagorno-Karabakh has been in blockade for 4 months, the humanitarian problems of the locals must be solved as soon as possible. Those responsible for ensuring the protection of the rights of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians should take more active steps. For more than 30 years, Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians have been in a difficult situation. We expect that this conflict and issue will be resolved soon.”

The deputy also referred to the note of the American official, according to which there is progress in Armenia-Azerbaijan negotiations.

“The American negotiations will end today. I don’t have much to say about the content of the negotiations. The negotiators will return and probably talk about progress. After yesterday’s trilateral meeting, the Foreign Ministry issued a statement, in which it appears that during the negotiations, the issues of the rights of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, addressing their security and the withdrawal of Azerbaijani troops from the territory of Armenia were raised. For several months now, the conversation about the right to self-determination of Nagorno-Karabakh has been going on in the public political arena. It should be noted that today’s problem is the security of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh and move forward in the direction of addressing them. We should reach the solution of the problem through Baku-Stepanakert dialogue,” Sargis Khandanyan said and mentioned that a meeting between the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan is expected in May.

“The RA reaffirms its position that the three principles underlying the negotiations with Azerbaijan (preserving the sovereign territory of the RA, introducing an international guarantor institution regarding a possible peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and creating international mechanisms for the Baku-Stepanakert dialogue) are preserved, other issues were also added. I cannot say anything about the document to be signed. There is a draft peace agreement, I don’t know if the parties want to sign any other draft before it is signed or not. The peace agreement would have been signed a long time ago, if Azerbaijan had a position close to the RA regarding the 3 fundamental issues of Armenia,” Sargis Khandanyan said.

The statement made by the Turkish Foreign Minister yesterday was not overlooked either.

The MPs noted that it is necessary to think about how to reopen the Turkish airspace for the RA airlines. The parliamentarians stated that the question of the statues is not in the domain of the RA Government, but of Yerevan Municipality.

“The Turkish side did not say that if Armenia does not demolish the statue, bad steps will follow, but if such steps are continuous,” Vahagn Aleksanyan noted.