Briefing of the Foreign Minister of Zohrab Mnatsakanyan on the results of the statement of Foreign Ministers of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Question: Mr. Minister, can you summarize what was your agenda for this meeting in Moscow and what are the results of these negotiations record-breaking duration?
Zohrab Mnatsakanyan: Yes, it was a difficult process. For us the primary issues, of course, were related to the following: to be able to reach a situation in which we can put an end to this aggression. And you see that the aggression in this case was taking place in a specific environment, when the actions of Azerbaijan were accompanied by a rather obvious and strong support of Turkey and with the involvement of foreign terrorist fighters. In fact, our compatriots in Nagorno-Karabakh were fighting in rather specific conditions, when besides Azerbaijan these forces were involved in the attacks.
The situation in the region remains quite fragile. We need to achieve the cessation of hostilities, as this has directly become a very serious challenge for the region, and first of all for Nagorno-Karabakh. And without putting an end to this situation, of course, it is impossible to talk about any progress. What we have been able to achieve during these quite long negotiations is that we need to cease the hostilities, to stop the atrocity, these military hostilities, to fix and strengthen the cessation and then to talk about the peace process. We reiterate that the Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship remains the only format, the internationally recognized format for the peace process. And no other power, particularly Turkey, can play any role in this regard.
Now the primary issue is to put an end to this crisis. Here you know that the Co-Chairmanship played an important role: from the very first day, the Co-Chair countries had a significant importance. You are familiar with the statements made at the level of the leaders of the Co-Chair countries, as well as with the statements of the Foreign Ministers, the special steps and actions that have been undertaken by the Presidents. In this regard, the role of the President of France and the statement made by the United States at the level of both the President and the Secretary of State is immense. This was very important in terms of demonstrating the depth of concern, the seriousness of the situation and their involvement. However, I want to specifically emphasize the role that the Russian Federation has played, and the President of the Russian Federation has personally invested in this, like the others.
We gathered today to try to get a real practical result from the dialogue that has been taking place between the President of Russia, the Prime Minister of Armenia and the President of Azerbaijan separately. And our mission was, of course, to achieve the implementation of that. I hope that tomorrow after 12 p.m. we will be able to stop this really very serious challenge, a very serious situation that threatens our compatriots.
All this once again underscored that our concerns regarding physical security are fully justified and those threats do exist.
The security of our compatriots has been and remains a priority for us in the process of peace process, and the recognition and implementation of the right of self-determination is of particular importance, which will lead our compatriots in Nagorno-Karabakh to achieve that important goal, which enshrines their right to self-determination and the fact that they must live freely, decide their lives and destiny within that status as a unit recognized by all, as an independent state.
Question: The day and time of launching a humanitarian ceasefire was announced, however nothing more.
Zohrab Mnatsakanyan: As we speak at this late hour, you realize that the negotiations were extremely difficult and lasted about 12 hours.
This is the first step. It will be necessary to undertake some steps to solve humanitarian issues with the help of the Red Cross. The other important issue which arises from this agreement is the strengthening of the cessation of hostilities and the mechanisms that ensure and reinforce the cessation of hostilities and excludes the resumption of such actions.
The Russian Federation and the Co-Chair countries have a crucial function to implement. You will notice from the agreed-upon text that these are steps that follow each other: first, second, third, which suppose stabilization of the situation, restoration of stability in the region, restoration and strengthening of the security system of our compatriots in Artsakh and continuation of the peace process, which was, of course, our primary goal.
