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RA IS RETURNING TO THE YEAR OF 1996 IN THE KARABAKH CONFLICT RESOLUTION

Politics

“We are returning to the very beginning, to the stage of 1996 when the negotiations were held in favour of Nagorno-Karabakh,” RA Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian told A1+.

Vartan Oskanian refuted the forecasts on the possible change of negotiation format.

“The issue of involving Karabakh has always been on the table of talks. Karabakh’s engagement in the talks does not imply a change of the format. Just on the contrary, Karabakh’s involvement restores the format, because you know that in the beginning, until 1996-1997 Nagorno-Karabakh participated in the Minsk Group-mediated talks,” the RA FM said.

Vartan Oskanian also commented on the Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov’s statement that allegedly the Armenian side took a break in the negotiations. Azimov suggested that the Armenian side needed the break to review its approaches.

“The Armenian side did not take a break. We don’t need to reconsider our stance. We are ready to continue the negotiations on this document. But Azerbaijan displayed signs to reject the agreement in Saint Petersburg and I think Azerbaijan is making such statements to attack the first and to blame it on someone else,” Vardan Oskanyan says.

Oskanian declined to reveal the details of the current stage in the talks. “At the moment I wouldn’t like to reveal details. I have already said there is a change in Azerbaijan’s stance, a tendency to reject agreement. It began outlining in Saint Petersburg. We need to wait to judge the consequences by Azerbaijan’s future steps. Time will show whether it tends to become harder or it leads to a change of policy. It is a little early to draw conclusions, but at least we started to notice such tendencies,” Vartan Oskanian says.

The Armenian foreign minister also touched upon the meeting of the foreign ministers of the unrecognized post-Soviet states in which the NKR foreign minister allegedly participated.

Vartan Oskanian said it was a misunderstanding. Karabakh participated not as a member but as an observer, and the adviser to president went to this meeting, not the foreign minister. The stance of Karabakh regarding the relations with the unrecognized post-Soviet states has undergone no essential changes. “Because according to Armenia and Karabakh, the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh differs from others and should not be viewed in the context of others. And the international community perceives the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh this way,” said the Armenian foreign minister.