"Amid the recent tensions on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, the contradictory statements made by Azerbaijani officials once again show that either Baku has lost its sense of reality or we are dealing with the uncoordinated activities of various circles of the Azerbaijani state apparatus. Let me just present facts.
Thus on July 12 Azerbaijani troops provoked an actions on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border in the Tavush region of Armenia. This was followed by intensive shelling of settlements and civilian infrastructure. And the arguments as whether the modern army would attack with UAZ or not are irrelevant, as it is difficult to consider the Azerbaijani army modern.
Equally unacceptable are the statements about the illegality of the actions of the Armenian side, which are made in the official circles of Azerbaijan. Armenia will most resolutely defend the security of its citizens.
What is really worth thinking about in the context of illegality are Azerbaijan's threats to hit by missile the Armenian Metsamor nuclear power plant. For us, such statements are tantamount to the use of weapons of mass destruction, the threat of nuclear terrorism, which threatens not only the population of Armenia, but all the peoples of the South Caucasus, first of all, the Azerbaijanis.
Realizing the explosive nature of the situation Azerbaijani officials began to compete with each other, claiming that the official statements made by the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry during the hostilities did not reflect the official position of Baku. Either this is a badly hidden lie, or the military-political leadership of Azerbaijan does not control the actions and statements of its subordinates, and the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan is a group of extremists.
I would like to emphasize once again what the Armenian side has said many times - Azerbaijan must immediately renounce its policy of using force or threat of force in this context. Attempts to speak to us from a position of strength work against those who initiated them. Being committed to the peaceful settlement of conflicts, at the same time we demonstrated in practice the invulnerability of the security system of Armenia and Artsakh.
We have repeatedly stated that we will continue to insist that risk mitigation mechanisms be put in place to prevent border incidents, including an increase in the number of international observers on the ground, their permanent deployment, as well as the introduction of mechanisms to investigate ceasefire violations.
The implementation of these mechanisms can help prevent further resumption of escalating tensions. In this regard, Azerbaijan must return to the constructive field, take steps to implement these mechanisms, the urgent need for which was stressed against the background of this military escalation.
The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are the only format within which the peace process is underway, and there can be no change in that framework. Here I would like to emphasize that the mediators are Russia, France and the United States.
The Azerbaijani leadership presents the negotiation process in a very distorted way, as well as the essence of the Minsk Group. In their opinion, the essence of the negotiation process is to ensure the annexation of Artsakh, of course, without taking into account the opinion of the people of Artsakh. And since this is not happening, the Azerbaijani side expresses its dissatisfaction with the work of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs in the negotiation process.
However the problem is not with the co-chairs, but with Azerbaijan's maximalist position, with the reluctance to seek a compromise, to find a solution acceptable to the peoples of Armenia, Artsakh and Azerbaijan.
A peaceful settlement must be comprehensive, achieved through the direct involvement of all parties to the conflict. Artsakh, through its democratically elected authorities, must be a direct party in the negotiation process, within the framework of which their future fate will be decided".
