During the government sitting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan spoke about the situation in and around Nagorno Karabakh, the implementation of the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020, the mandate of the peacekeeping force of the Russian Federation, the new route of the Lachin Corridor and regional peace.

The Prime Minister noted that the presence of the Russian peacekeeping contingent is a key factor in ensuring the security of Artsakh Armenians and “we highly appreciate Russia’s efforts in ensuring security and stability in our region.”

He added, however, that a number of incidents have taken place in the zone of their responsibility since November 2020 and added that “we expect any attempt to cross the line of contact be prevented by the peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation.”

PM Pashinyan said “no matter how strong the criticism of the trilateral statement of November 2020, institutions most important for the security of Nagorno Karabakh are enshrined in it.”

“First, it affirms the existence of the entity of Nagorno Karabakh, which Azerbaijan has been trying to deny, stating that Nagorno Karabakh doesn’t exist,” PM Pashinyan said, adding that such statements are a gross violation of the trilateral statement.

Second, the Prime Minister said, it has been recorded that there is a Line of Contact. And third, there is the Lachin corridor that ensures the link between Nagorno Karabakh and Armenia.

“In fact, today’s struggle of Azerbaijan is against these three institutions, and we expect, as it is envisaged by the trilateral statement, that the Russian peacekeeping contingent will not enable Azerbaijan to distort these fundamental institutions as recorded by the trilateral statement,” PM Pashinyan said.