Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Monday that he was ready to call early elections to bring the country out of a political crisis that followed last year's war with Azerbaijan. "If the parliamentary opposition agrees to early elections, we will agree to early elections," he told thousands of supporters gathered in Yerevan's central Republic Square. He said he was ready to give opposition parties demanding his resignation "a second chance" to defeat him in a vote. "Let's go to the polls and see whose resignation the people are demanding," said Pashinyan, who swept to power after spearheading peaceful protests in 2018. Pashinyan is under increasing pressure from the opposition for his handling of the war over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, which saw Armenia suffer heavy losses and agree to hand over swathes of territory to Azerbaijan. The Armenian leader admitted to making mistakes during the conflict but said "only the people can decide who will remain in power". Several thousand opposition supporters also gathered on Monday outside parliament, where activists have set up a tent camp and vowed to stay until Pashinyan and his government step down. mkh-mm/acl/jv