Armenia publishes Karabakh talks documents
YEREVAN, Armenia (MNTV) — Armenia’s government has released documents related to past negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, fulfilling a pledge made by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Nov. 8.
The materials, published Tuesday in Armenian, Russian and English, outline international proposals aimed at resolving the decades-long dispute.
For Azerbaijan, the release changes little. Officials in Baku argue that the outcome of the 2020 war and the September 2023 military operation settled the issue, restoring full Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh.
Azerbaijan’s one-day “anti-terror operation” on Sept. 19–20, 2023 dismantled the separatist administration, disarmed armed groups, and paved the way for constitutional control. Reconstruction continues, with displaced residents gradually returning.
In Armenia, however, the release has reignited bitter political controversy. Opposition figures say the documents — including a 2019 proposal by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs — confirm their claims that Pashinyan rejected a more favorable deal before the 2020 war.
The 2019 plan, based on updated versions of the Madrid Principles, would have granted Karabakh Armenians a binding right to self-determination through a future vote. Armenian-backed forces would withdraw from surrounding districts. The documents show the referendum would have allowed voters to choose any political status, including secession or unification with Armenia.
Pashinyan acknowledges the proposal was presented after he took office in 2018 but says accepting it would have undermined Armenia’s independence and statehood.
His office argued Tuesday that the referendum mechanism was ambiguous and claimed the vote “would take place not in Karabakh but in all of Azerbaijan,” a point contradicted by the published text.
Opposition figures linked to former presidents Levon Ter-Petrosian, Serzh Sarkisian and Robert Kocharian insist the documents prove Pashinyan’s stance contributed to the outbreak of the 2020 war, which claimed at least 3,800 Armenian servicemen.
“If this document had been adopted, we would have had peace, the lifting of the blockade, de facto independent Artsakh, and control over Kelbajar and Lachin,” said Levon Zurabian of the Armenian National Congress.
“You rejected that proposal, saying ‘Artsakh is Armenia. Period,’ and we got the war,” said Eduard Sharmazanov of the Republican Party.
Pashinyan continues to blame his predecessors, deepening a political divide that shows no sign of easing as Armenia confronts the post-war reality and the loss of Karabakh.
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