Armenian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Anna Naghdalyan gave the following interview today to the Russian news agency Interfax.

The Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan issued a statement that the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia to Artsakh is a violation of the commitments undertaken in the November 9 ceasefire statement. What commitments are they talking about?

These allegations are completely baseless. The November 9 statement does not impose any restrictions on the relations between Armenia and Artsakh at different levels.

The November 9 trilateral statement aimed at establishing a ceasefire and deploying Russian peacekeepers in Artsakh does not indicate any agreement on the status of Artsakh. And from that point of view, all the claims that changes have taken place in the status of Artsakh do not correspond to reality.

The status of Artsakh should be determined as a result of a peace process, based on the principles proposed by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, the right of peoples to self-determination.

What is Armenia’s assessment regarding Azerbaijan’s implementation of the November 9 trilateral statement?

As a result of the November 9 announcement, large-scale hostilities were stopped, and Russian peacekeepers were deployed in Artsakh. At the same time, the Azerbaijani side has violated and continues to violate several key provisions of the trilateral statement.

Thus, according to the first point of the trilateral statement, the parties must remain at their positions as of November 10 and end the hostilities. Meanwhile, more than a month after the ceasefire was established, the Azerbaijani side carried out military operations in the direction of the Hin Tagher-Khtsaberd settlements in the Hadrut region of Artsakh, causing human losses and capturing Armenian servicemen on the spot. Armenia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs referred to that gross violation of the statement in its December 13 statement.

To date, Azerbaijan has not fully complied with Article 8 of the trilateral statement, according to which prisoners of war, hostages and other detainees should be exchanged. As a result, Armenian prisoners of war and hostages are not released. Moreover, Azerbaijan is prosecuting Armenian prisoners of war, presenting them as terrorists at the highest level, and trying to prevent the full implementation of the November 9 trilateral statement.

The cessation of violations of the November 9 statement by Azerbaijan is necessary for the full implementation of the trilateral statement.