The negotiation process cannot continue as long as there is shooting or threat of shooting in the direction of Nagorno Karabakh, Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan told reporters today, as he commented on the results of the Russian Foreign minister’s visit to Armenia.
According to Kocharyan, the first and most important outcome was the reiteration of the fact that the 1994 ceasefire agreement remains in force, and the utmost goal today is to ensure peace and stability.
The Deputy Foreign Minister attached special importance to the statement that concrete measures reinforcing the ceasefire regime should be initiated not only by the Co-Chairs, but also the German Presidency of the OSCE.
Referring to Sergey Lavrov’s remarks on Kazan document, Kocharyan said: “There are two platforms. The first one is the Madrid document, which led to Kazan, which Azerbaijan turned down. The second platform are the proposals targeted at reinforcement of the ceasefire regime, implementation of confidence-building mechanisms,” Shavarsh Kocharyan said.
The Deputy Foreign Minister confirmed that the Madrid Principles envisage concessions, but it’s up to Nagorno Karabakh to make a decision. “No Armenian official will ever be able to solve the issue of territories and status for Artsakh,” he concluded.