Artsakh foreign minister says new platforms for Karabakh settlement may emerge
YEREVAN, January 15. /ARKA/. In an interview with Armenian Public Television Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Foreign Minister David Babayan did not rule out the emergence of new platforms for the settlement of the Karabakh issue along with the OSCE Minsk Group.
“We must understand that the format of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship will, of course, be preserved, but along with it, other platforms can be created,” he said.
“We must be ready for that, but at the same time we must understand that the most important thing is to preserve the subjectivity of Artsakh,” he stressed.
Babayan noted that even in this situation Artsakh continues to be an important element in the South Caucasian geopolitical region.
“And this is very important: for Artsakh to remain Armenian is one thing, but if it is not Armenian, a completely different situation will be created, and not only for the Armenian statehood, but also for many other forces and states. A new situation will be created, fraught with unpredictable developments and shocks. This must be well understood, therefore the subjectivity and security of Artsakh must be preserved," Babayan emphasized.
On September 27, 2020, Azerbaijani armed forces, backed by Turkey and foreign mercenaries and terrorists, attacked Nagorno-Karabakh along the entire front line using rocket and artillery weapons, heavy armored vehicles, military aircraft and prohibited types of weapons such as cluster bombs and phosphorus weapons.
After 44 days of the war, on November 9, the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a statement on the cessation of all hostilities. According to the document, the parties stopped at where they were at that time. The town of Shushi, the districts of Agdam, Kelbajar and Lachin were handed over to Azerbaijan, with the exception of a 5-kilometer corridor connecting Karabakh with Armenia.
A Russian peacekeeping contingent was deployed along the contact line in Karabakh and along the Lachin corridor. Internally displaced persons and refugees are returning to Karabakh and adjacent regions, prisoners of war, hostages and other detained persons and bodies of the dead are being exchanged. --0-
