Armenia’s Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan told Parliament on Thursday that that without Artsakh’s “decisive voice” there will be no progress in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution process, adding that returning Stepanakert to the negotiations table is a matter of principle.

Mnatsakanyan also said that the cooperation between the governments of Armenia and Artsakh has been and remains principled and effective.

“We are always working with the Artsakh government. Before or after each negotiation we always work with Artsakh’s leadership. I personally have very close cooperation with my colleague [Artsakh Foreign Minister] Masis Mayilyan and also with [Artsakh] President Bako Sahakian, as does Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan,” said Mnatsakanyan.

“We have a clear format of closely working together, which reflects the political line that is drawn by our government and refers to Artsakh’s participation in the negotiations process. The issue of Artsakh’s participation is a difficult, but principled, and important,” explained Mnatsakanyan.

“The issue concerns Artsakh, which is an entity, and without Artsakh’s decisive voice we will not have productive progress. Our cooperation with Artsakh’s authorities has been and remains very principled and productive,” Mnatsakanyan said.

Asked about the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs’ view regarding the suggestion to include Artsakh itself in Karabakh talks, Mnatsakanyan saud the “co-chairs accept what will be acceptable for the parties. We don’t have a debate over this issue with the co-chairs, the debate is with Azerbaijan.”

Mnatsakanyan also said that a date for an upcoming meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov will be announced soon, adding that there were no immediate plans for a meeting between Pashinyan and Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev.