Armenian President’s speech on Nagorno Karabakh issue was very clear - says Deputy FM

YEREVAN, AUGUST 4, ARMENPRESS. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan’s latest statement on Nagorno Karabakh was extremely concrete, Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan said after the Government’s session.

“Serzh Sargsyan has clearly stated: firstly, there will not be unilateral concessions. Secondly, Nagorno Karabakh’s being as part of Azerbaijan is excluded”, “Armenpress” reports, the Deputy FM said. At the same time the Deputy FM said he doesn’t understand the questions over returning the territories. “Whether there have been cases when Azerbaijan issued a statement by saying they are ready to return their captured territories of Nagorno Karabakh? If no, I cannot understand when the journalists ask about the unilateral concessions”, he said.

To the question whether a pressure is being put on the Armenian side over the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement issue, Kocharyan said: “In every stage of negotiations the mediators are trying to bring the sides to a common agreement, and this means that they require the sides to make some concessions in order to approach closer. This is very natural in every negotiation process. But I will not call it pressure”.