The representative of the ARF Supreme Body, NA Deputy Speaker Ishkhan Saghatelyan, as he had promised, presented details about the meeting held on October 12 and October 19 last year, as well as the 3 meetings of the ARF representatives with Nikol Pashinyan during the war. In response to a question addressed to Nikol Pashinyan during a questions-and-answers session in the National Assembly on October 28, Pashinyan recalled the famous October 19 meeting and, mentioning the name of the ARF representative, said that when he said we should stop the war at this price, the ARF representative asked how can that be, and so on.
“Of course, I said that,” Saghatelyan said in his statement published on October 31, then presented some details from the meetings. ARF representatives had two closed meetings with Pashinyan during the war, on October 1 and October 7. During one of the meetings, as Saghatelyan assured, Pashinyan was offered to involve all the military, whom the government considers part of the former regime, in the defense of the homeland, in response to which Pashinyan said he does not interfere in the affairs of the army. “This is a fact that he lied during that meeting. We saw many cases where he intervened in the army’s actions and gave direct instructions,” Saghatelyan said.
During the meeting, the ARF representatives informed Pashinyan about the unorganized state of the rear, as well as, according to Saghatelyan, the disgraceful state of the mobilization forces. “During the second meeting, we constantly asked, what is the price of the ceasefire, are there any negotiations? When we asked what the possibility of a ceasefire is, Pashinyan clearly said, well, our army must strike on a large scale at the enemy and only after that will negotiations take place. I asked if he had discussed that possibility with our army and whether in this situation our army could give a large-scale counterattack. He said that such issues are not discussed, they should be instructed and the army will do it.” According to Saghatelyan, during the meeting with the extra-parliamentary forces on October 12, Pashinyan presented the situation, saying that we have losses. At the time, Talish and Mataghis were under enemy control, and there were losses in the southern region. Battles were going on near Hadrut.
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“I interrupted him and said, ‘You are not right, Hadrut was surrendered and is under enemy control.’ He also said, where did you get that information from, did your party members say so? Then he called one of his assistants, said something in his ear, half an hour later he came and read a document that we are reporting that fighting is taking place in Hadrut at the moment. I said that I did not know what they were reporting. I insisted that Hadrut was handed over. I have stated the point of view of the ARF- we will fight to the last drop of blood. I said, if we win this war, all the laurels go to you and your team, but if we lose, all the responsibility is yours, and do not try to find culprits.”
According to Saghatelyan, during the meeting with the representatives of the extra-parliamentary forces on October 19, Pashinyan started his speech by saying that the situation is difficult and we have many losses. The President of Artsakh had called him and said that the former presidents of Artsakh, Serzh Sargsyan, and all the forces in the parliament of Artsakh appealed to him and offered to go to negotiations to find a way out surrounding the previously discussed option and reach a ceasefire. “Then he said, ‘I have a proposal to stop the war and its price is to hand over the 5 + 2 region.’
He said that there was no other way out. I asked if there is at least a question of status, he said no. He made such an expression in his speech: well, Lavrov’s plan, plus and minus this or that․․․ I said, you are going to sign a capitulation document and bring the country to the brink of disaster. He said, this is the reality, I did not inherit a good legacy. He spoke about the previous negotiations. I said, please, be serious, find a solution, use all your efforts, the people are with you, but that capitulation is the loss of our statehood. This was the position of the ARF during that meeting. After the meeting, I said in a live video that our point of view has not changed: the issue cannot be resolved without the clarification of status, and concessions will lead us to disaster. We have always said this.”