Artsakh cannot be part of Azerbaijan. Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Foreign Minister David Babayan told this to Armenian News-NEWS.am, commenting on the recent statement by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

"Azerbaijan's position towards Armenians is unchanged. And Azerbaijan continues to manifest itself as the most honest enemy, as it never hides its real intentions.

But in some assessments, paradoxically, we [i.e., Artsakh] completely agree with Ilham Aliyev. For example, there is no concept of 'Artsakh' in Azerbaijan. We completely agree, as Artsakh cannot and will never be part of Azerbaijan; here we completely agree with him. And if there is such a small step of mutual understanding, perhaps this is the key to a final settlement of the conflict. Indeed, Artsakh cannot be part of Azerbaijan. This opinion is expressed by Azerbaijan itself. This is already a progress," Babayan said.

“It is, of course, unacceptable for us [i.e., Artsakh] to be part of Azerbaijan in any status. It is like living with reservations. If anyone in the international community thinks this is possible, they are wrong. It's impossible. This approach presupposes two logical processes: either a new war or simply a mass exodus of the population from Artsakh," David Babayan added.