In a conversation with Interfax, the RA Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Anna Naghdalyan referred to the recent statement of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.
Question: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan issued a statement that the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia to Artsakh is a violation of the commitments undertaken in the November 9 statement. What commitments ?.
Answer: These allegations are completely false and baseless. The November 9 statement does not impose any restrictions on relations between Armenia and Artsakh at different levels.
The November 9 trilateral statement aimed at establishing a ceasefire and deploying Russian peacekeepers in Artsakh does not indicate any agreement on Artsakh's status. And from that point of view, all the claims that changes have taken place in the status of Artsakh do not correspond to reality.
The status of Artsakh should be determined as a result of a peace process, based on the principles proposed by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, the right of peoples to self-determination.
Question: How does the Armenian side assess the implementation of the November 9 trilateral statement by Azerbaijan?
Answer: As a result of the November 9 statement, large-scale hostilities ceased and Russian peacekeepers were deployed in Artsakh. At the same time, the Azerbaijani side has violated and continues to violate a number of key provisions of the trilateral statement.
According to the first point of the tripartite statement, the parties must stop their positions as of November 10 and end hostilities. Meanwhile, more than a month after the ceasefire was established, the Azerbaijani side carried out military operations in the direction of Hin Tagher and Khtsaberd settlements in Artsakh's Hadrut region, causing casualties and capturing Armenian servicemen on the spot. The RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs referred to that gross violation in its December 13 statement.
To date, the Azerbaijani side has not fully complied with Article 8 of the tripartite declaration, according to which prisoners of war, hostages and other detainees should be exchanged. As a result of that Armenian prisoners of war and hostages are not released. Moreover, the Azerbaijani side is prosecuting Armenian prisoners of war and presenting them as terrorists at the highest level, trying to prevent the full implementation of the November 9 trilateral statement.
The cessation of violations of the November 9 statement by Azerbaijan is necessary for the full implementation of the trilateral statement.
