Prime Minister Pashinyan: Armenia should be ready for war with  Azerbaijan 

ArmInfo.Now in our region there is a very tense situation in terms of Azerbaijan's aggressive policy, and there is a very high likelihood of war. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan stated this in an interview with the radio station Ekho Moskvi.

"We must be ready for war, but I, and all Armenians, and all in  Armenia are sure that Russia has all the means to prevent a spiral of  new escalation in our region and to keep Azerbaijan from attacking  Armenia and Karabakh. I believe that Russia - our strategic partner,  our centuries-old brother and our centuries-old friend does not use  these opportunities to prevent war, I mean the political,  geopolitical, economic influence of Russia on our region, "Pashinyan  said. Answering a question about whether there was a proposal from  Russia to recognize Crimea "in exchange for the recognition of  Karabakh," Pashinyan gave a negative answer.

Speaking about his son's service in Karabakh, Pashinyan noted that  this is the best evidence that the Armenian side is striving for  peace in the region: "I think we all understand that when I send my  son to Karabakh, I do not want there to be it's not logical that I  would be glad if President Aliyev would also send his son to serve in  the forefront, because in this case we would be sure that Mr. Aliyev  would not want his son to die either because of the war", explained  the Armenian Prime Minister, while again noticing that in the result

Nevertheless, Pashinyan assured that he is optimistic about the  resolution of the Karabakh conflict.  Answering the question whether  the Armenian side is prepared for a compromise, he noted that for  some reason this issue is not being asked to Azerbaijan: "We will be  adequate in any situation, we do not want war, but we will fight, of  course, if Azerbaijan starts the war ".

Referring to the refugees, Pashinyan noted that very many Armenians  fled from Azerbaijan without anything: "They just did not run away,  they fled because they were cut in Baku, Sumgait, Kirovabad,  everywhere in Azerbaijan, and the Karabakh conflict became such  because the Azerbaijanis started cutting Armenians with the help of  the Soviet army, but no one asks - was there even one incident in  Armenia that violent actions took place against Azerbaijanis? " He  also stressed that Nagorno-Karabakh was never part of independent  Azerbaijan. "And Nagorno-Karabakh left the structure of Azerbaijan  under the laws of the Soviet Union, it is very important to fix it,"  the Armenian premier said.

Touching upon his meeting with Azerbaijani President Aliyev,  Pashinyan admitted that Putin had introduced them to Moscow. "But  unfortunately, this acquaintance was not effective, because we met  again in Brussels during the NATO summit, but we did not greet. In  response to the proposal "Echo of Moscow" to call Aliyev Pashinyan  admitted that this is a good idea, he simply does not have the  telephone number of the Azerbaijani leader.