Artsakh Security Council presents details of negotiations with  Azerbaijani side and warns that Baku`s interpretation is  misinformation

ArmInfo. We inform you that in accordance with the decision taken at the meeting of the Security  Council of the Republic of Artsakh on February 28, 2023, a Working Group has been established, the purpose of which is to discuss urgent  humanitarian issues with the Azerbaijani side.

 According to the Artsakh Security Council, the head of the group is Samvel  Shahramanyan, Secretary of the Security Council of the Republic of  Artsakh.  The SC added that, in accordance with the agreement reached  through mediation of the command staff of the peacekeeping troops of  the Russian Federation deployed in the Republic of Artsakh, on March  1, 2023, at 11 a.m., a meeting was held at the headquarters of the  peacekeeping mission with participation of the commander of the  troops, Major General Andrey Volkov, which was attended by a similar  working group formed by the Republic of Azerbaijan, headed by Ramin  Mammadov, member of the Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan.

At the same time, the NKR Security Council noted that the following  issues were on the meeting agenda:

1. Ensuring uninterrupted supply of natural gas to the Republic of  Artsakh and excluding further disruption of the gas supply; 2. Ensuring the possibility of inspecting the section of the only  high-voltage line entering Artsakh from the Republic of Armenia,  which is under the control of the Azerbaijani armed forces, in order  to carry out restoration works by the specialists of Artsakh Energy  CJSC and restore the electricity supply to the Republic of Artsakh; 3. Conducting an one-time visual tour by an Azerbaijani specialized  group on the territories of Kashen and Drmbon mines; 4. Complete opening of the Stepanakert-Goris highway.

In the opening remarks, the commander of the peacekeeping troops  presented the participants of the meeting as parties of the Republic  of Artsakh and the Republic of Azerbaijan.  After that, the head of  the Artsakh group clarified to the Azerbaijani side the powers of the  group he leads, that is the discussion of the above-mentioned  specific issues and finding solutions on them. At the beginning of the discussions, the head of the Azerbaijani  group tried to lead the conversation towards the need for integration  of Artsakh people with Azerbaijan, presenting prospects of obtaining  possible socio-economic benefits in that case. However, the head of  the Artsakh group called for discussion on clearly defined issues.  The latter also emphasized that these contacts on urgent humanitarian  and infrastructural issues cannot address the main issues of  comprehensive settlement of the conflict, and for this it is  necessary to establish a format with broad international support.  It  should be noted that the other members of the Azerbaijani group were  engaged in the discussion of the above-mentioned four specific issues  and the search for solutions, accordingly, the subsequent course of  the meeting was fully complied with the framework defined by the  agenda.

As a result of the discussion of all the above-mentioned issues,  specific agreements were reached, which the Azerbaijani side  undertook to report to the higher authorities, and in the coming days  to inform the Artsakh side about the results through the peacekeeping  mission.  During the meeting, an agreement was reached on  establishment of the stable two-way communication mechanism between  the parties. At the meeting, the parties agreed to publish only general  information for the time being, given that the process is still in  the working stage.  However, shortly after the meeting, the head of  the Azerbaijani group gave interviews on various information  platforms of his country, in which he spread disinformation,  completely deviating from the actual content and process, in  particular announcing that the meeting discussed "issues of the  reintegration of the Armenian population of the Karabakh region into  Azerbaijan." Unfortunately, some representatives of the Armenian  media took this trick of Azerbaijani officials and media, thereby  creating a false impression that issues related to the comprehensive  settlement of the conflict are allegedly being discussed in  Artsakh-Azerbaijani contacts. Meanwhile, as we mentioned, the meeting  on March 1, in which the commander of the Russian peacekeeping troops  participated as well, was dedicated only to the discussion of steps  aimed at lifting the blockade of Artsakh and relating issues.

Another misinformation of Azerbaijan, according to which the next  meeting of the official representatives of the parties "may take  place in Ganja or Aghdam" and without the participation of the  Russian peacekeeping troops, is without substance as well.  We urge  the public not to succumb to the fabrications of the Azerbaijani  propaganda machine and to be sure that the public will be given  exhaustive information about the above-mentioned process and its  results."