Friday, March 10 2023 11:31

ArmInfo. After the signing of the Trilateral Statement of 9 November 2020, several meetings were held between the representatives of Artsakh and Azerbaijan, during which exclusively humanitarian, infrastructural and other urgent issues related to the life of the population were discussed.

 The last such meeting was held on 1 March 2023, during which humanitarian  issues were discussed in the context of the need for the immediate  unblocking of the Lachin Corridor by Azerbaijan, reads a statement by  the Foreign Ministry of Artsakh in response to a question by the  Armenpress news agency about the Artsakh authorities' position on the  international mediators' proposals for a direct dialogue with  Azerbaijan to settle the conflict.

Obviously, such discussions between the parties aimed at solving  urgent problems cannot replace full- fledged peace negotiations  needed for a sustainable and comprehensive settlement of the  Azerbaijan- Karabakh conflict.

Artsakh remains committed to the peaceful settlement of the conflict  through negotiations, which should be based not on the balance of  military powers or legitimisation of the results of the use of force,  but the norms and principles of international law, including equal  rights and self-determination of peoples. The best way to protect  these principles is to involve the international community in  discussions with Azerbaijan.

We have repeatedly drawn the attention of the international community  that the negotiations should take place in an agreed internationally  accepted format, which would provide conditions and guarantees for  the parties to implement their commitments. In this regard, it is  necessary, first of all, to focus efforts on the full implementation  of previously reached agreements. This will be the main indicator of  the good faith approach of the parties to the peace process. Only  after that, a conducive environment can be created for discussing all  other issues, including those related to ensuring the security of the  people of Artsakh, exercising their rights without restrictions and  respecting the free expression of their will. We are convinced that  it is impossible to achieve a comprehensive settlement of the  conflict without addressing these important issues.

We would also like to draw the attention of the international  community to the fact that, on the one hand, Azerbaijan declares its  readiness for dialogue with Artsakh and, on the other, keeps the  people of Artsakh under siege for almost three months now,  perpetrates terrorist attacks and puts forward maximalist demands,  trying to exert pressure and achieve their goals through the use or  threat of force.