The agenda of the Armenian side during the upcoming trilateral meeting between Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Sochi on October 31 will be to get clarifications over the incidents that have taken place in the past year, the talks over the Azerbaijani aggression and the analysis of the implementation process of the trilateral statements, Member of Parliament of Armenia from the ruling Civil Contract faction Sargis Khandanyan said at a parliamentary press briefing.

“A year has passed since the trilateral meeting in this format, and I think there is a need for correcting the clocks. And the agenda of the Armenian side is the clarification of the issues which have taken place so far, over the past year, in particular the latest Azerbaijani aggression and its consequences. The analysis of the implementation process of the November 9, and January 11 statements and the statement of last November will also be the expectation of the Armenian side from the meeting”, he said.

And the withdrawal of the Azerbaijani troops from Armenia is on the Armenian agenda at any platform. It is a red line and a demand for Armenia, he stated.

Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defense and Security Affairs Andranik Kocharyan said in his turn that the withdrawal of the Azerbaijani troops from Armenia’s sovereign territory is not a demand, but a necessity. “Regardless of the course of the negotiations, what belongs to the Republic of Armenia is not a subject of discussion. The presence of any foreign soldier in our sovereign territory will never be tolerated, they must withdraw from our territory in peaceful conditions. In all other cases, it will hold the tension on our borders, but this will not lead to a good end”, he said.

As for the possible precondition by the Armenian side before the negotiations, MP Artur Hovhannisyan said any precondition during any negotiations, especially in this very tense situation, will mean freezing and stop of the processes which are highly dangerous. He said that the Armenian side is presenting the demand for the withdrawal of Azerbaijani forces from Armenia’s sovereign territory at all possible platforms.

“Our international partners are also presenting this demand, very clearly and in an addressed way. And we hope that the military-political leadership of Azerbaijan will eventually pull back its troops to initial positions. And in the process of negotiations, these demands go hand in hand with each other. We hope that when a moment comes when it will be possible to talk around any text about the peace treaty and start some practical steps, at that moment the Azerbaijani armed forces will withdraw the sovereign territory of Armenia and will stop the occupation of Armenian lands”, the lawmaker said.