August 12, 2014 - 10:50 AMT
Artsakh Foreign Minister eyes Sochi talks as positive signal

The Foreign Minister of the Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) Republic believes that the very fact of holding a trilateral meeting between the Presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia amid the unprecedented escalation of tensions along the line of contact and the Armenian-Azerbaijani border is already a positive step that can help stabilize conflict zone.

“The initiative of Russia as one of the Co-chair countries of the OSCE Minsk Group is a clear signal that there is no alternative to the peaceful settlement of the conflict between Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh and that any attempts to undermine the peace efforts are unacceptable,” Karen Mirzoyan said.

According to him, it is important that this signal reached the Azerbaijani leader, who threatened Armenia and Artsakh with resumption of hostilities on the eve of the meeting.

“Taking into account the change of attitude demonstrated by the Azerbaijani President during the Sochi talks, we hope that Ilham Aliyev will keep to this course upon his return to Baku,” Mirzoyan said.

“The authorities of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, being committed to exclusively peaceful settlement of the conflict, are ready to further contribute to the negotiation process and strengthen stability in the conflict zone,” he concluded.