Armenian Foreign Ministry clarifies reasons for its refusal at Moscow  meeting with Azerbaijan

ArmInfo.Official Yerevan commented on the reasons for its refusal of the Moscow meeting with the Azerbaijani side.

Thus, according to the RA MFA, in response to the question of is it  true that the meeting between the Foreign Ministers of Armenia,  Russia and Azerbaijan was scheduled to be held on December 23 in  Moscow, within the framework of the peace treaty negotiations, but it  will not take place? Press secretary of the Armenian Foreign Ministry  Vahan Hunanyan, said in part:

"The Armenian side confirmed its readiness to participate in the  Moscow meeting about two weeks ago, before the illegal blockade of  the Lachin Corridor by Azerbaijan.

Apparently, the current work priority of the Foreign Minister Ararat  Mirzoyan is to address the issues of resuming the unhindered  operation of the Lachin Corridor, in accordance with the trilateral  statement of November 9, 2020, as well as the problems arising from  the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh. Hence, the Armenian side  requested to reschedule the Moscow meeting.

At the same time, we would like to inform that as a sign of Armenia's  constructiveness in the process of normalization of relations with  Azerbaijan, regardless of the meeting, new proposals from the  Armenian side regarding the document on normalization of relations  were handed over to Azerbaijan." On December 12 at 10:30 am a group  of Azerbaijanis in civilian clothes blocked the Stepanakert-Goris  highway, again "for environmental reasons." Armenian telegram  channels have already identified employees of the special services of  Azerbaijan among the so-called ecologists. The Azerbaijanis are  behaving loosely, trying to provoke Russian peacekeepers, and have  set up a tent on the only road linking Artsakh with Armenia. The road  remains closed to this day. The so-called Azerbaijani  environmentalists, who were lit up in the photo with a demonstration  of the symbol of Turkish "Gray Wolves" ultranationalists, said that  they would remain on the road until the head of the peacekeeping  contingent, Andrei Volkov, arrived. In addition, from the evening of  December 13, Azerbaijan also shut off the valve of the gas pipeline  through which gas is supplied to the population of Nagorno-Karabakh.  The gas supply was restored three days later. It is noteworthy that  the Azerbaijanis who blocked the Stepanakert-Goris highway changed  their demands, and now they demand the control and activities of the  Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Security Service of  Azerbaijan throughout the territory of the Republic of Artsakh.  We  add that the first provocations by the so- called environmentalists  began on December 3 with the blocking of the Berdzor (Lachin)  corridor connecting Artsakh with Armenia.