Factions within Armenia’s National Assembly share the view that Artsakh should be involved in the any future negotiations to resolve the Karabakh conflict.

What the negotiations process will look like after the fighting along the Artsakh-Azerbaijan border ends is anyone’s guess, but most experts believe changes are in store.

While we wait for an end to the fighting, the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister for Geneva today. Armenia’s Foreign Minister leaves for Moscow four days later.  Both are scheduled to have meetings within the OSCE Minsk Group framework. The Minsk Group wants to get the parties around one table by holding separate meetings in advance.

In his speech at the parliamentary briefings today, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Defense and Security, My Step faction MP Andranik Kocharyan was against the idea of returning any districts that now comprise the Republic of Artsakh.

"In the past, there was talk of finding a solution through peaceful negotiations. But Azerbaijan and Turkey decided to resolve the issue through brute force. They failed. The search for a way out of this situation is now a matter for the world. The security zone has gained international importance. Terrorist forces have been deployed in the vicinity of that zone, which presents a challenge for other states," Kocharyan said.

He said that while mutual concessions must be made, the importance of our security zone cannot be ignored, not only for Artsakh, but also for neighboring countries.

He did not specify the geography of this “security zone”.

Kocharyan said Artsakh must be a party to any future negotiations.

"Without Artsakh's participation, negotiations will go nowhere. The 1994 ceasefire agreement has been violated. That agreement must be renewed. A representative of Artsakh signed the trilateral agreement," Kocharyan said.

Bright Armenia faction leader MP Edmon Marukyan said that parliamentary diplomacy succeeded in getting the message out to Armenia’s international partners that Azerbaijan is using terrorists and nurturing international terrorism.

 Marukyan described the pro-Armenian-pro-Artsakh speeches of many members of the European Parliament as a serious achievement, especially the closed-door meeting of the PACE Monitoring Committee, where it was decided to hold an urgent debate on the fighting.

Marukyan did not rule out the possibility that the Council of Europe will adopt a resolution on the matter

"The Armenian side must do everything possible so that achievements on the battlefield are carried over to the diplomatic level," Marukyan stressed.

Marukyan too noted that Artsakh signed the 1994 ceasefire agreement, thus marking its status as a party to the conflict. He said that Artsakh should continue to insist that it take part in the talks, because without its participation the talks cannot be effective.

"Because Artsakh is a party to the ceasefire. Armenia is not at war. It is just the guarantor of Artsakh's security and does not allow the people of Artsakh to be subjected to genocide," Marukyan said.

Armenian National Assembly Deputy Speaker Vahe Enfiajyan, from the Prosperous Armenia Party, stressed that the fighting spirit of the armed forces is high and there are ample supplies of military hardware

"But in the case of various scenarios, we realize that the solution to the problem must be the result of a roundtable discussion. I will refrain from speculating on the agenda and substance of these discussion,” he said.

MP Enfiajyan emphasized that Armenia and Artsakh have been fighting for years for the freedom and statehood of the people of Artsakh, and finally these rights must be confirmed by the international community.

Enfiajyan said when and if Armenia recognizes Artsakh, such a step must be followed by recognition by the international community.