Azerbaijan announced that today's meeting with the command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) "was held in a constructive spirit" and that "contacts on this matter will continue."

The Ministries of Economy as well as Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan even issued a joint statement regarding this meeting.

As per this statement, a monitoring group consisting of the employees of the above-mentioned Ministries, the State Service on Property Issues under the Ministry of Economy, and the AzerGold company discussed with the command of the Russian peacekeeping forces the "examination of mineral deposits, prevention of illegal exploitation, conducting a monitoring, and various questions about the organization of inventory, cadastral accounting of property, assessment of possible damages and risks to the environment, underground and surface water sources, as well as elimination of the consequences of the damages."

Thus, Azerbaijan has decided to announce its non-existent rights to Artsakh under the guise of "environmental issues," and at the same time trying to manipulate the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Artsakh.

There are still no official comments from the Armenian and Russian sides regarding this development.