Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Foreign Ministry issued a statement, referring to the latest statement by US state Department spokesperson Mathew Miller. The statement reads:
“The press statement made by the US State Department Spokesperson on 30 May, in which he welcomed the recent statements of the President of Azerbaijan on the readiness to consider the issue of the so-called amnesty for the residents of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), causes deep disappointment and bewilderment.
It is inexplicable how in this statement of the President of Azerbaijan, entirely built on open blackmail and coercion, one could find something positive that deserves encouragement. Obviously, the main message of the Azerbaijani president’s statement was the refusal of Azerbaijan from an equal dialogue with the democratically elected authorities of the Republic of Artsakh and the desire to impose their own authority on the people of Artsakh by force.
We have no doubts about the efforts of the United States to play a positive role in achieving a just, balanced and dignified settlement of the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict and in establishing lasting peace in the region. At the same time, we believe that the encouragement of Baku's destructive and belligerent policy runs counter to the desire to achieve positive developments in the peaceful settlement of the conflict”.