Armenpres: The Security Council of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) released a statement on Secretary of the Security Council Vitaly Balasanyan’s December 7 meeting with representatives of Azerbaijan.
“The Office of the Security Council of the Republic of Artsakh is informing that only authorized representatives of the Republic of Artsakh are participating in the meetings with representatives of Azerbaijan which are held in mediation and participation of the Russian peacekeeping contingent deployed in the Republic of Artsakh. Particularly, the Secretary of the Security Council of Artsakh participated in the December 7 meeting at the permanent deployment base of the Russian peacekeeping contingent as a coordinator of cooperation issues with the Russian peacekeeping contingent deployed in Artsakh. We find it necessary to inform the public that the Secretary of the Security Council is proceeding exclusively from positions of protecting the interests of the Artsakh Republic during the meetings held in mediation of the Russian peacekeepers. Regarding the abovementioned meeting, we inform that the representative of the Republic of Artsakh voiced the concerns of the Artsakh side with facts and substantiations regarding both ecological issues due to the actions of Azerbaijan in Artsakh and other security challenges. At the same time, we again stress that the Artsakh side will continue the commitment of protecting the interests of Artsakh with all possible means,” the Office of the Security Council of Artsakh said in a statement.
On December 7, Azeri media reported that negotiations were held with the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Artsakh regarding “environmental issues”.
Earlier on December 3, Azerbaijan briefly blocked the only road linking Artsakh with Armenia under false “environmental” pretexts. The road was re-opened after negotiations conducted by the Russian peacekeepers.