Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) foreign minister Sergey Ghazaryan clarified, during the Yerevan-Stepanakert videoconference, the purpose of the letter sent by Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"As you know, such letters are regularly sent; and not only to the Russian president, but also to heads of international organizations, politicians. In the current situation, the authorities of Artsakh have resorted to that step. Armenia's prime minister, in a conversation with the Russian president, drew attention to this situation," the Artsakh FM said.

According to him, Stepanakert expects the Russian peacekeeping troops in Artsakh to make every effort to lift the Azerbaijani blockade of Artsakh within the framework of the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020, especially when it is impossible to transport food and essential items to Artsakh ever since June 15, and only the Red Cross transports a limited amount of medicines. As Ghazaryan noted, the aforesaid Russian peacekeepers should take all measures within their powers to end this blockade.

When asked if this means that not all measures are taken, the Artsakh FM said that if all measures were taken, there would be no blockade. According to him, various reasons are brought as to why this is not done, but one of the goals of Azerbaijan's provocations is to discredit the Russian peacekeepers.

The Artsakh FM noted that the prospect of inviting other peacekeepers is not realistic or, at least, cannot be implemented quickly, and the UN Security Council needs to adopt a respective decision. In any case, Stepanakert is waiting for changes in the current situation, the Artsakh FM added.

When asked why Russian Vladimir Putin is the addressee of the Artsakh President’s letter when Armenia's Prime Minister announces the recognition of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, including Artsakh, the latter’s FM said that Artsakh responded to those well-known statements. Ghazaryan stressed that the authorities of Artsakh are guided by the will of their people, which was expressed in the referendum of December 10, 1991.

“Regardless of what is said at what level, we are guided by that mandate,” the Artsakh FM added.