Armenia has been and remains a negotiating party, Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan told Shant TV, as he spoke about the ongoing peace talks to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict.

“The negotiations are on the Karabakh issue, and the main subject here is Karabakh,” he said, in particular. “The issue was about Karabakh, the issue was about the population of Karabakh, the people of Karabakh. The issue has been and remains the same for us: 150,000 people who have their names, their families, their homes. It’s about guaranteeing the ensuring of their physical safety; this has always been the issue.”

And when asked as to whether, consequently, Armenia is not a main party to the Karabakh conflict, the FM responded as follows: “Armenia was a negotiating party and remains a negotiating party, it remains faithful to the ensuring of a pacific settlement by way of a strict negotiation process; this too is a precept that is clearly set also in the program of the government. And Armenia has clearly fulfilled, continues to fulfill this function of its, and it remains committed to fulfilling that function.”