STEPANAKERT. – Stepanakert has always stated that it welcomes the meetings between the representatives of Armenia and Azerbaijan within the framework of the process of resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict, and under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group.

Davit Babayan, press secretary of the President of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic/NKR), told the aforesaid to Armenian News-NEWS.am. He noted this when asked to comment on Azerbaijan Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov’s recent statement on reaching mutual understanding during the talks with his counterpart from Armenia, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, in Milan.

“We consider that every meeting is a unique contribution to the process,” Babayan noted. “As for  Mammadyarov’s statement, we can assume that, first of all, it’s about [the fact] that Baku has finally grasped the need for upholding the precept of a pacific settlement [to the conflict].

“Second, Azerbaijan is on the track of accepting the need for Stepanakert’s participation in the negotiation process. If there is a corresponding arrangement and that need’s acceptance by Azerbaijan, then one can speak about a new quality of the negotiation process.”

Otherwise, as per the spokesperson for the Artsakh President, if Azerbaijan is just doing “hocus-pocus” with words, the long and hard work shall continue, but it should be recalled that there is no alternative to negotiations.