Separating the Armenian-Azerbaijani relations from the Nagorno Karabakh issue in the negotiation process between Yerevan and Baku is an unacceptable step tantamount to betrayal, the formerly ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) said in a statement on Tuesday, April 18.

RPA said leaving Nagorno-Karabakh alone and renouncing the obligation to be its guarantor of security happens as a result of coercion from the Azerbaijan.

The statement came after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told the that "the Republic of Armenia fully recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, and we expect Azerbaijan to do the same by recognizing the entire territory of the Armenian SSR as the Republic of Armenia."

According to the PM, "maps of the Armenian and Azerbaijan SSR approved by the USSR as the basis of the territorial integrity of the two countries" should be attached to the agreement.

RPA reminded in the statement that the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic has never been part of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

According to RPA, the recognition of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan cannot contradict the imperative of guaranteeing, realizing the right of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to self-determination and expressing it in a documented form during the current negotiations.