Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has described Armenia’s Declaration of Independence as an “anti-state text,” arguing that abandoning its ideology is in the country’s national interest. Speaking to reporters after a Cabinet meeting on Thursday, Pashinyan said Armenia’s new Constitution should be based on a vision of state continuity and that establishing institutional and irreversible peace is his top priority as prime minister. “The number one, number two and number three mission that I must accomplish as Prime Minister of Armenia is to establish peace and make it institutional,” he said, adding that he would pursue this goal relentlessly. Pashinyan stressed that the peace agreement with Azerbaijan must be signed and ratified, saying Armenia’s challenge is to turn the current period of peace into decades and eventually centuries of stability. Asked whether constitutional changes would guarantee the signing and ratification of the peace agreement, Pashinyan said he could not yet provide a definitive answer, as it depended on factors beyond the Armenian government’s sovereign authority. He said he would be prepared to guarantee the outcome and stake his political credibility and mandate on it only once he had received sufficiently reliable assurances. Pashinyan added that if such a guarantee were established, voting against the new Constitution would amount to voting against peace.