FM commented on the package of measures aimed at de-escalating the situation that the Armenian side  has prepared

Today, during the Q&A with the Government at the National Assembly, the MP of the "Civil Contract" faction Hripsime Grigoryan reminded the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan of the statement of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Sergey Lavrov, according to which the Armenian side has new proposals regarding the border demarcation commission.

"The Armenian side has prepared a package of measures aimed at de-escalating the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, reducing tensions, increasing security and stability, and has handed it over to both the Russian side and with the mediation of Russian side to Azerbaijan and other partners. Now we are waiting for an answer. I can't publish the details and it doesn't really make sense. I can only say that they proceed from our previously announced concept of a mirrored withdrawal of troops, and the creation of additional security mechanisms," Mirzoyan said. 

Last week, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, in an interview with Azerbaijani TV channels, threatened to suppress the attempts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to address the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh. "They shouldn’t deal with the Karabakh conflict, because it has been solved. We solved it instead of them. Azerbaijan will fail the attempts of the OSCE Minsk Group to deal with the Karabakh conflict. We’ve been a party to this conflict," Aliyev said in particular. 

During the Q&A session with the government in the National Assembly, MP of the "Civil Contract" faction Sargis Khandanyan asked how the RA MFA is going to respond to this statement.

In response, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan noted that it's not the first time that the leadership of Azerbaijan makes unconstructive statements, which hinders the discussion of existing problems in a constructive atmosphere and finding acceptable solutions.

Azerbaijan is trying to prevent, but I don't think the co-chairs will give in to it, one day they should visit the region. FM of Artsakh

2021 is a special year for our country, as it was a period of recovery from a severe catastrophe, the third Artsakh War, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh David Babayan said this at a press conference, summing up the results of the activities and work done by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh in 2021.

"The most important obstacle is Azerbaijan, which is trying to prevent or complicate their (Minsk Group Co-Chairs - ed.) visit to the region. You know that the President of the Republic of Artsakh held a meeting with the newly appointed Co-Chair of Russia, and I also took part in that meeting. We highly appreciate it. We discussed various issues. One day the Co-Chairs should visit the region, especially since they want to. We recently saw the statement of the President of Azerbaijan, and according to that logic, the Minsk Group should be closed, but I don't think the Co-Chair countries will give in to this," Babayan said.

Other news

• 32 years ago, on January 13-19, 1990 a systematic and mass massacre of the Armenian population was carried out in Baku with apparent permission and support of the Azerbaijani authorities. Hundreds of Armenians were killed, dispossessed and hundreds of thousands of Armenians tortured during the week-long atrocities. The Human Rights Defender of Artsakh has issued the following statement.

• The total number of servicemen and civilians killed as a result of the 44-day war is 3 809, Investigative Committee reports.