Armenia’s Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan (left) at a joint press conference Thursday with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow
MOSCOW—Russia will respect Artsakh’s return to the Karabakh peace talks if Yerevan and Baku reach a mutual agreement, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a joint press conference Thursday with his Armenian counterpart Zohrab Mnatsakanyan who arrived in Moscow Wednesday.
A day after being elected Armenia’s prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan told a press conference in Stepanakert on May 9, that the Karabakh conflict could not be resolved with the direct participation of Artsakh’s authorities in the negotiations, adding that the Artsakh authorities have the right to speak on behalf of their people. Pashinyan reiterated this position on Thursday when presenting his government’s program to Armenia’s National Assembly, which approved it by a vote of 62 to 35.
“If official Yerevan and Baku agree at some stage that Nagorno-Karabakh should again be involved in the talks, we will respect this decision. As for the Minsk Group, its work has been going on for many years. Representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh used to participate in this process, but then, the parties agreed to change the format of the talks,â€
