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Armenia's territorial integrity, sovereignty and the rights and security of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) are Yerevan’s "red lines" in talks with Azerbaijan, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told AFP in an interview on Friday.

He insisted on dialogue between Baku and Stepanakert to address the Nagorno-Karabakh people’s rights and security.

“But given the disproportion of strength between Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan, we think that if we leave Stepanakert and Baku face to face, Baku will have the opportunity of either turning that agenda into oblivion, or have a monologue and not a dialogue. And that’s why our perception is that that dialogue should take place in the context of an international mechanism, where the international community will be the witness,” Pashinyan said.

“Armenia’s role here is difficult because Armenia’s interest in this process is perceived and interpreted by Azerbaijan as so-called encroachment or aspiration upon Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. Because of that perception talks in this format have not turned out to be constructive, and this has been demonstrated by the whole history of negotiations,” he added.