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Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called the movement for the unification of Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region with Armenia “a fatal mistake.”
In a video circulated by Armenian media outlets on Sunday, Pashinyan argued that Karabakh was not Armenian territory.
“It must be stated that the Karabakh movement was a fatal mistake for us,” he said.
“What made it ours? Explain to me, what made it ours? We built schools there, kindergartens, factories, lived there, but fundamentally, how was it ours? It wasn’t ours, it wasn’t ours,” he added.
Karabakh, internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but populated for decades mainly by ethnic Armenians, was at the center of a long-running conflict between the two South Caucasus countries following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Azerbaijan regained full control over the region in 2023 after a military operation that triggered the exodus of most of Karabakh’s Armenian population.
Pashinyan also said a climate of peace had emerged with Azerbaijan, describing the current situation as unprecedented since Armenia’s independence.
“There has been no gunfire and no loss of life for two years. This is an unprecedented situation since our independence,” he said.
“We are now working in close cooperation with Azerbaijan to strengthen and institutionalize peace,” he added.
Pashinyan made the remarks during the opening of the 8th summit of the European Political Community (EPC) in Yerevan.
Expressing satisfaction with hosting the summit, he said the EPC platform had played a critical role in establishing peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Pashinyan said he and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev made a “game-changing” decision during the EPC summit in 2022.
“Armenia and Azerbaijan recognized each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty based on the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration. This understanding created a realistic opportunity to achieve a peace agreement between the two countries,” he said.
Pashinyan said the 2022 decision laid the groundwork for a peace summit held in Washington in August 2025.
Recalling that a declaration was signed with the support and participation of U.S. President Donald Trump and that the peace agreement was initialed by the foreign ministers, Pashinyan said Armenia and Azerbaijan are now moving toward implementation of the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) project.
“This project will contribute to peace through the opening of regional transportation routes and the creation of new international corridors along east-west and north-south axes,” he said.
Pashinyan argued that the initiative would also strengthen global supply chain stability.
He further noted that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev participated online in an event hosted in Armenia for the first time, adding that he hopes to attend the 10th EPC summit scheduled to be held in Azerbaijan in 2028.
Pashinyan also highlighted the participation of Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz in the summit, saying it marked the first visit to Armenia at that level from Türkiye.
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