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Armenia’s second President Robert Kocharyan has responded harshly to the statement of the Artsakh National Assembly in which it urges the former and current presidents of Armenia and Artsakh to condemn Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s latest statements.

“Otherwise, we will consider your silence as a sign of agreement with the Armenian prime minister,” the Artsakh statement said.

Speaking at a news conference on Monday, Pashinyan reiterated his government’s readiness to recognize “Azerbaijan's territorial integrity of 86,600 square kilometers” through a bilateral peace treaty.

“The 86,600 square kilometers include Nagorno-Karabakh,” he said.

"I consider the ultimatum issued to the presidents as inappropriate and insulting. Have you just realized what's going on? Are you so “naive"?” Kocharyan said in a statement on Tuesday.

He claimed the plans of Pashinyan’s administration to surrender Artsakh to Azerbaijan were clear over the past two years.

“We spoke about it publicly on every occasion. The Artsakh parliament and its majority (except four MPs) didn't respond to our warnings. You supported the Armenian authorities during the 2021 parliamentary elections. You overlooked the mass rallies in Yerevan in April-May last year. With your obedience and desire to please the Armenian authorities, you allowed the fate of Artsakh be decided without your involvement.

“So, don't you dare to shift the blame from the insane to the sane people. And certainly, it's not for you to judge my sense of patriotism. My approaches haven't changed: you have to fight for your homeland instead of imitating a fight,” Kocharyan stressed.