[Armenia’s PM Nikol] Pashinyan, by me, Azerbaijan’s [President Ilham] Aliyev, by his NSS [(National Security Service)] head, had exchanged closed envelopes. Artur Vanetsyan—the leader of the opposition "With Honor" Faction of the National Assembly (NA), leader of the opposition Homeland party, and former director of the NSS of Armenia—stated this on the air of 24 News.

Referring to the statements made by PM Pashinyan in the NA regarding an "operative link" with Aliyev, Vanetsyan said that the premier is in fact resorting to manipulation.

To clarify the issue, he first explained what an "operative link" is, noting that it was intended only for border incidents, and this link was ensured from the Armenian side by the then NSS director, Artur Vanetsyan, and the latter’s counterpart from the Azerbaijani side.

The speaker detailed, noting that he mainly kept in touch with his Azerbaijani counterpart by phone and, in relevant situations, met with him in Dubai and some other cities several times.

According to Vanetsyan, the main topic of their conversation was solely the border situation, and this was reported in full, both to the Armenian Prime Minister and the other members of the Security Council: the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense.