YEREVAN. – Artsakh is a de-facto independent country and has its foreign policy which, naturally, is limited unless there is no international recognition, Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan said.

Commenting on Azerbaijan’s note of protest to the United States over the visit of Artsakh president Bako Sahakyan to Washington, Kocharyan said: “It is natural, Baku has to complain. What else could they do?”

Asked why the president of Karabakh is not welcomed at the same level in Russia or the CSTO countries, the deputy minister said: “From this point of view, the United States has its own special approach. This is explained by the fact that the US provides assistance to Artsakh, which is indicated in the budget. This means that America as a whole has a much more multilayered, diverse approach to external relations, which is also conditioned by the independence of the Congress. The opinions that very often do not coincide with the position of the White House can be expressed in the U.S. Congress, and these opinions may in some way affect the policy. In this term the U.S. is more flexible.”

President of Karabakh Bako Sahakyan held a series of meetings in the US Congress, where he delivered a speech.