Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh are interested in lasting peace in the region, which will be possible to achieve through a peace agreement based on mutual concessions, Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan said in an interview to Interfax on Monday.
“Unilateral concessions are excluded. They cannot have any prospects," the minister stressed.
In Mnatsakanyan’s words, the peace process has been and will remain a key priority for Yerevan for the settlement of the conflict.
Asked whether he is ready to meet with his Azerbaijani counterpart tomorrow, for example, without any preconditions, the FM said: "Of course, we are open to a meeting, of course, we are ready to continue that work. I want to reiterate that the important part of our work is the need to ensure security, to refrain from the use of force and to find compromises in maximalist approaches.
“For Armenia, there are concrete and key priorities. The issue of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh is a supreme priority for us. The realization of the Artsakh people’s right to self-determination without any restrictions and the provision of real, tangible security for Artsakh is a key priority. And we are ready to work with both the [OSCE Minsk Group] co-chairs and Azerbaijan to define formulas that will allow us to compare and measure the possible compromise.”
Mnatsakanian next highlighted the need for the full involvement of Artsakh in the negotiation process, noting that the issue is, among other things, of a practical nature, as it will strengthen the “sense of ownership” towards the negotiation process on the part of the Nagorno-Karabakh leadership, which, being elected by the Karabakh people, has a corresponding mandate to represent their interests.
