A repetition of the April war will not take place; Armenia has categorically rejected the threat factor in the negotiation process for the settlement of the Karabakh issue, Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan declared in the National Assembly on May 4, responding to the belligerent statement made the previous day by Azerbaijan’s Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov: “We cannot create a situation where the security system for our people becomes vulnerable.”
Two days earlier, Azerbaijan’s Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov, during a meeting with the country’s armed forces leadership, had stated that the likelihood of resuming military operations had sharply increased, conditioned by the provocative actions of the Armenian side. He ordered the strengthening of all types of reconnaissance on the front line.
According to the head of Armenia’s foreign affairs department, Mnatsakanyan, it is impossible to imagine real progress in negotiations if there is tension: “We do not believe that it is possible to achieve real progress when you are offered the possibility of negotiating with one hand and firing with the other. We firmly insist: it is not possible.”
