An extraordinary meeting of the Security Council was held in the government under the leadership of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
During the meeting, Pashinyan made a statement.
"Since yesterday, we have had a certain tension in Artsakh and on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. I would like to inform you about the situation and certain decisions. First, yesterday our positions in the Khtsaberd, Hin Tagher area were attacked by Azerbaijani units. And according to some information, Turkish special forces also participated in the attack.
The attack took place in conditions when the Russian peacekeepers had not yet had time to settle in this area, and an assault took place. Subdivisions of our Armed Forces, the Artsakh Defense Army entered the battle and resisted. We have at least 6 wounded, there are other victims, information about which is being specified.
Yesterday, sometime after the outbreak of hostilities, a small subdivision of Russian peacekeepers approached the combat zone, as a result of which the fighting ceased, but some of the villages of Hin Tagher and Khtsaberd came under the control of Azerbaijani special forces.
Since this morning, Russian peacekeepers with more numerous forces have entered the area, and at the moment the situation is relatively stable, at least the presence of peacekeepers gives some confidence that there is a high probability of avoiding further escalation.
Naturally, we have a task before us: to achieve full-fledged compliance in this sector with the provisions of the joint statement of November 9, which clearly states that since the adoption of the statement, the troops remain in their positions along the entire line of contact. That is, the nuance here is that the Khtsaberd, Hin Tagher section is located within the administrative boundaries of the former autonomous region of Nagorno-Karabakh, and, therefore, it fully follows from the logic of the agreements that it should be under the control of the Armenian forces, because according to the position of November 9 these territories were Armenian, under the control of the Defense Army.
Regardless of the presence of Russian peacekeepers, yesterday's actions by Azerbaijani forces clearly violate the provisions of the joint statement of November 9, and today the Foreign Ministry has clearly stated this with its statement."
"The next task, over which we must take a decision in the near future, is related to the situation around the Kubatlu and Zangelan regions. Of course, there is no mention of these areas in the joint statement, because at the time of signing the statement, these territories, unfortunately, were mainly under the control of Azerbaijani forces, that is, only small areas remained. During these negotiations, there was an understanding that the boundaries should be clarified in these areas. The next situation, around which a certain tension may arise, refers precisely to this area. The nuance here is that this section is crossed by a road that is of strategic importance for us, there are certain issues related to borders and coordinates. Yesterday, until late at night, discussions were held in Moscow with the participation of the Minister of Defense. There are several proposals and options for resolving the situation, and in the near future, we must make a decision on one of these options.
The process of exchange of prisoners is also very important, and here we have some progress or a serious opportunity for progress, and today or tomorrow we must make concrete decisions."
