YEREVAN. – A joint session of the security councils of Armenia and Artsakh is being held in Yerevan co-chaired by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian, Speakers of the Parliaments of Armenia and Artsakh Ararat Mirzoyan and Ashot Ghoulyan are also present at the sitting.
Pashinyan, Sahakyan, and Sarkissian made speeches before discussing the agenda items.
"The cooperation and dialogue between the state bodies of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh is of a coordinated nature and is called to ensure the comprehensive security of the Armenian people in the region," Pashinyan noted, in particular, in his speech. “During our joint session on March 12, I highlighted two issues that are essential to address in order to make progress towards a peaceful resolution of the Artsakh conflict. The first is to secure Artsakh's involvement as a major party to the conflict. In recent months, the perception of the need to increase that involvement has been substantially strengthened.
First, the changes in Armenia have substantially increased the subjectivity of Artsakh and emphasized the equal nature of the relations between the authorities of Armenia and Artsakh.
Second, the culture of decision-making has changed, and the role of the people and society in influencing those decisions has changed not only in Armenia, but also in Artsakh.
All basic documents for the settlement of the conflict either include a reference to the participation of the elected authorities of Artsakh or have been approved by representatives of the elected authorities of Artsakh.
The participation of the elected representatives of Artsakh in the negotiation process has been emphasized since the very first days of the negotiation process (...). In fact, the elections in Artsakh are based on an internationally assumed mandate, and therefore any statements that criticize those elections in any way undermine the peace process (...). I am more than confident that the newly elected authorities (…) of Artsakh will have constructive involvement in the peace process.
Armenia will continue to act as a guarantor of Artsakh's comprehensive security.”
