Although certain government officials were trying to create an impression that the issue of the Madrid Principles is not on the agenda, in reality, the Madrid Principles have not been declared as invalid. Consequently, in this sense, the statement of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs should not come as a surprise. This is what representative of the Supreme Body of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun Party Arsen Hambardzumyan told NEWS.am.

According to him, the tone of the statement of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and certain approaches and formulations therein give way to some concerns.

“There are many messages, and I think Armenia’s diplomats need to draw conclusions,” the ARF-D member said.

He emphasized the fact that a pause in the process of settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was natural following the change of power in Armenia. “In essence, it is safe to consider the phase of conditional pause over,” Hambardzumyan said.

The representative of the ARF-D Supreme Body noted that there are serious geopolitical interests at stake, and contrary to the assurances and statements that the Minsk Group Co-Chairs are impartial and that the positions of the conflicting parties are decisive, it is clear that this is far from the reality.

“In this sense, it is safe to view the recent statement and the upcoming Pashinyan-Aliyev meeting as a step to have the negotiation process under strict supervision," he said.