Ruben Vardanyan, Minister of State and Head of the Operational Headquarters of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), on Sunday had public meetings with the residents in various districts of the capital, Stepanakert.

During his public meetings both in the Artsakh communities and in Stepanakert last week, Vardanyan spoke about the challenges and problems that the Artsakh state and society are facing due to the ongoing Azerbaijani blockade.

The Minister of State presented the work carried out by the Operational Headquarters in various domains and arenas towards ensuring the livelihood of the Artsakh population in a crisis situation, solving urgent problems, mitigating the consequences of the crisis, as well as de-blocking.

He considered it important to maintain feedback with the people in this difficult period, to transmit complete information, which will help the public to better understand the situation and overcome it with joint efforts.

"If we want Azerbaijan to fail in its plans to de-Armenianize Artsakh, we have one way: to clench [our] ‘teeth’ and move on. And we can do that only by consolidating," added Vardanyan.

Also the Minister of State listened to the opinions and approaches of the population and answered their questions regarding the current situation in Artsakh, as well as the respective work being carried out by the Operational Headquarters.

The participants of the public meetings both in the Artsakh communities and in capital Stepanakert assured that no blockade can break their determination to continue their dignified life in their native land.