At the meeting with Serzh Sargsyan, there was no coercion in terms of concessions. Balasanyan

At the meeting with Serzh Sargsyan, there was no coercion, even in terms of concessions. This was stated by Artsakh Security Council Secretary Vitaly Balasanyan in a conversation with “Artsakhpress”, referring to the statement of the former commander of the Artsakh Defense Army, Samvel Babayan, that Serzh Sargsyan mentioned territorial concessions during discussions with the current authorities of Artsakh and the authorities did not oppose those proposals.

Balasanyan mentioned that with Serzh Sargsyan in 2016 After the April fighting, they had two main meetings. one at the end of April, the other on July 16, one day after the coup attempt in Turkey and one day before the capture of the SDF regiment and the surrounding area in Yerevan. The first meeting was attended by the pair of presidents and the parliamentary factions of Artsakh, and the second one had a larger group of invitees. veterans of the movement and the war were also present, including the first squad leader Arkady Karapetyan, “Dashnak Agon”.

To the question: what was discussed during the meetings and whether there was pressure from the retired President Serzh Sargsyan to push the Artsakh side to make concessions, the secretary of the security council answered: 

“The only issue on the agenda of those meetings was how we, the Artsakh elite, imagine the solution of the issue and the further strengthening of Artsakh’s security. A free discussion was held on this topic as well. There was no coercion, even in terms of concessions. We have clearly stated that any negative change regarding the status and security of Artsakh is unacceptable for us. As for Serzh Sargsyan, who at that time was actively involved in the negotiation meetings with the Azerbaijani side, the latter, listening to us, came to the conclusion in a very simple way that regardless of everything, we should be ready for war,” said Balasanyan.

According to the latter, relevant conclusions were made during those meetings in 2016 as well. from the mistakes raised during the April battles. “Serzh Sargsyan promised that the gaps that appeared during April will be corrected, and I must mention that this promise was fulfilled both in terms of the supply of weapons and engineering works,” Vitaly Balasanyan concluded.