In the early stages of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Sarkissian gave numerous interviews to international news organizations during which he appealed for action against the Government of Turkey and the actions of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, telling CNBC’s Hadley Gamble to “Imagine Caucasus becoming another Syria?” In another interview to the German Bild tabloid, he compared the situation in Stepanakert to German towns during World War II. After the ceasefire agreement was signed in early November, Sarkissian held a meeting with Karekin II, where they both made a call to declare 22 November as the Day of Remembrance of the Heroes who fell for the Defense of the Motherland in the Artsakh Liberation War. On 16 November, in an address to the nation, he concluded that snap parliamentary elections and Pashinyan's resignation were inevitable in light of the protests, proposing that a process be overseen and managed by an interim "National Accord Government". In early 2021, he called for the creation of a "Fourth Republic".