Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that he was not going to resign. He stressed that he would leave his post only on the basis of the results of the will of the people. Information that Pashinyan had left the post of head of government appeared on Telegram channels the day before.
"I can relinquish the status given to me by people only on the basis of reliable results of the will of the people. Until such an expression of will takes place, I will continue to fulfill my functions of prime minister, and I promised to do it honestly.", - quotes the appeal of Nikol Pashinyan to the citizens of TASS.
The Armenian prime minister also stated that the provocations of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces against the villages of Khtsaberd and Khin Taher in Nagorno-Karabakh were aimed, among other things, at devaluing the role of the Russian peacekeepers. “The actions of Azerbaijan have a pronounced provocative character, but they are also aimed at devaluing the activities of the peacekeeping mission of the Russian Federation. They want to show that peacekeepers are not able to stop provocative actions , - he thinks.
The villages of Khtsaberd and Khin Taher remained under Armenian control, turning into an exclave, because the entire Gadrut region of Karabakh is occupied by Azerbaijanis, Sputnik Armenia specifies. The armed forces of Azerbaijan initiated an offensive on populated areas, which led to battles with the Armenian side. Later it became known that the Russian military included Khtsaberd and Khin Taher in the peacekeeping operation zone.
Pashinyan said in his address that Armenia and Azerbaijan "came close" to the beginning of the process of exchange of prisoners. He specified that at the first stage those prisoners will be returned whose identities have been confirmed by the International Committee of the Red Cross and Azerbaijan.
Also, the Prime Minister of Armenia announced from December 19 a three-day nationwide mourning for those killed during the hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh.
On December 13, the press secretary of the Prime Minister of Armenia Mane Gevorgyan denied messages from Telegram channels about Pashinyan's plans to resign. "The news of the resignation is so frivolous that it does not need comment."- she said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed an agreement on the complete cessation of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh on November 9. The document also provides for the deployment of Russian peacekeepers in the region. They will control the entire contact line and the Lachin corridor. The Armenian military must leave the unrecognized republic.
The main contingent of the Russian peacekeeping forces was made up of units of the 15th separate motorized rifle brigade of the Central Military District. Observation posts are located along the contact line in Nagorno-Karabakh and along the Lachin corridor, which connects Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia. Peacekeepers monitor the situation around the clock.
