Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan, when asked if Armenia is prepared for a new war with Azerbaijan, a threat he raised during a February 22 interview with France 24, said his administration is working towards peace.

“It’s not essential whether we’re prepared or not for war.  Our agenda is to work for peace. What war are we talking about? With whom? How many countries? It’s preferable to discuss such matters in secret,” Pashinyan responded during a three-hour press conference today.

Pashinyan, on a question about Armenia’s call to Moscow to remove Russian border guards now working at Yerevan’s Zvartnots Airport, said he expects only Armenian border guards to be stationed there as of August 1.

Armenian Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan told reporters on March 6 that Yerevan had officially notified Moscow to remove Russian border guards now stationed at the airport.

Pashinyan denied that Armenia has broken any security agreements with Russia in its bid to diversify the country’s national security options.

Instead, Pashinyan said it was high time for the Moscow-backed Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to clarify its “zone of responsibility” in Armenia and pledge to defend it against foreign aggression.

“If the CSTO answers these questions and its reply corresponds to our expectations, it will mean that the problems between Armenia and the CSTO have been solved,” Pashinyan said. “If not, Armenia will leave the CSTO. When? I can’t tell.”

Photo։ primeminister.am