No Progress in Karabakh Talks Without Artsakh’s ‘Decisive Voice’

Armenia’s Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsaganian told Parliament on Thursday that that without Artsakh’s “decisive voice” there will be no progress in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution process, adding that returning Stepanakert to the negotiations table is a matter of principle.

Mnatsaganian also said that the cooperation between the governments of Armenia and Artsakh has been and remains principled and effective.

“We are always working with the Artsakh government. Before or after each negotiation we always work with Artsakh’s leadership. I personally have very close cooperation with my colleague [Artsakh Foreign Minister] Masis Mayilian and also with [Artsakh] President Pago Sahagian, as does Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian,” said Mnatsaganian.

“We have a clear format of closely working together, which reflects the political line that is drawn by our government and refers to Artsakh’s participation in the negotiations process. The issue of Artsakh’s participation is a difficult, but principled, and important,” explained Mnatsaganian.

“The issue concerns Artsakh, which is an entity, and without Artsakh’s decisive voice we will not have productive progress. Our cooperation with Artsakh’s authorities has been and remains very principled and productive,” Mnatsaganian said.

Asked about the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs’ view regarding the suggestion to include Artsakh itself in Karabakh talks, Mnatsaganian saud the “co-chairs accept what will be acceptable for the parties. We don’t have a debate over this issue with the co-chairs, the debate is with Azerbaijan.”

Mnatsaganian also said that a date for an upcoming meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov will be announced soon, adding that there were no immediate plans for a meeting between Pashinian and Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev.