YEREVAN. – A huge part of our joint work is related to the socio-economic sphere. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this in his opening remarks during Friday’s consultation at the Government of Armenia—and chaired by him and President Arayik Harutyunyan of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), informed the press service of the PM’s office.

“And this is a key issue, because it is essential that we do everything to make conditions for the people to live in Artsakh, to feel safe, to see their future living in Artsakh. Of course, this also goes for the citizens of the Republic of Armenia, about the Republic of Armenia, I am convinced that we are moving in the right direction. This is very important. I am convinced that we are moving in the right direction, I am happy, when the Artsakh authorities share that conviction. I once again welcome you, Mr. President, dear colleagues, wishing a fruitful discussion today,” Pashinyan added.

In response, Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan said: “Fortunately, today there is a general political atmosphere in Artsakh, the Armenians of Artsakh first of all, of course, welcome and accept the agenda of peace, because there might be no one who knows the price of peace better than the people of Artsakh. But, on the other hand, I want to note that we do not see any direction to deviate from our right to self-determination, which we started from the first day of the movement. Therefore, I want to thank you for the opinion that any topic, any document will be discussed with the Artsakh government, and naturally, will stem from the mood of the people. Of course, it should be noted that no other way is possible, that is, it is not possible to have a document that will be rejected by the people of Artsakh. We all understand that, and in that sense we have a long political struggle.

The second is the security component, which is the most important today. Fortunately, recently it seems to have stabilized with the direct mediation of Russian peacekeepers, and today provides an opportunity to discuss socio-economic programs.

And the most important is the socio-economic at this stage. If there is no population in Artsakh, then it becomes meaningless to talk about the political struggle and security. That is why the demographics, the socio-economic programs are becoming important again today, the programs that started after the war are continuing. And we think that they should not only continue, but awe should also complete the ambitious programs we have started. And our main goal, the main issues at this stage are the political, security, demographic and socio-economic issues. We never faced any problems over those. But there are some questions on which we expect to receive answers during today's discussion, which will determine our further steps in terms of continuing those programs.”