- It has become a tradition that when we organise the Ambassadorial meeting we visit Artsakh. It is symbolic that this time we started the Ambassadorial meeting with the visit to Artsakh; this might provide an opportunity to have a more success gathering. What we heard from the President of Artsakh is very encouraging. We had a very busy and informative meeting. It is very important for the Ambassadors, diplomats to visit Artsakh and learn first hand information from President Sahakyan himself about the issues and questions that are of concern to our sisters and brothers from Artsakh.

Every Armenian has a great desire to visit Artsakh, a place, where you always want to return. However, for diplomats this is an imperative necessity for their work, their activities.

This meeting with the leadership of Artsakh, as was the case with all the previous ones, was very useful indeed.

I would also like to use this opportunity to thank the leadership of Artsakh for the high assessment given to the activities of the diplomats of the Foreign Ministry. And not only on behalf of those who received the high state awards of Artsakh, but rather I would like to express gratitude on behalf of all of us, for this assessment is the evaluation of common actions and efforts of our diplomats exerted for the benefit and in support of Artsakh’s liberation movement. Those efforts were undertaken when our diplomacy was making its first steps, those efforts are being continued also today. We are always encouraged by the visits to Artsakh, by meetings with both the leadership and common people here, we always use the opportunity to meet, to talk to ordinary people as well, with our brothers and sisters from Artsakh. These meetings compel us to do more.

- Minister, it is not a secret that the international recognition of Artsakh has always been one of the priority dimensions of the activities of the Armenian diplomats. You also have talked about that. In there any progress in this direction? Can we anticipate that by the end of the year there will be a country which will indeed recognize it?

- It can’t be excluded, however the international recognition is not determined by recognition of one country. Though everything has its beginning. That is the very purpose of the negotiations, that is the purpose of the negotiation process with the Co-Chairs, which is aimed at the exclusively peaceful settlement, not only the recognition of the right of people for self-determination, but its implementation as well. In such a case it will be possible to anticipate Artsakh’s recognition.

- In Practice, Minister, really...

- It is possible and I think this is exactly where we are heading to.

- The settlement process is accompanied by the continuous military escalation. What does that mean?

- What does that mean? That means that Azerbaijan loses in negotiations, that the leadership of Azerbaijan has trapped itself into a deadlock. What international mediators say, who have a mandate from the international community, and you know very well what Azerbaijan says are totally different, even contradictory things.Finding themselves in a deadlock situation in the negotiation process, they try to use force and they suppose that, maybe, they will be more successful. However, our soldiers in Artsakh do their utmost to prove that such illusions are baseless.

- Minister, nevertheless, there is some discontent among people regarding our foreign policy. What is your viewpoint on such opinions?

- I have a positive viewpoint. Criticism is a good thing if it is a constructive one. We should pay attention to it and take it seriously in order to do our best and utmost. But, I think, that our diplomacy has proved that it can deliver results. Five statements were issued at the level of the Presidents of the Co-Chair countries. Presidents of the United States, Russia and France have presented relevant proposals based on the norms, principles and provisions of the international law, which are considered as basis for settlement process. We state that we are ready to continue the negotiations on this basis, move towards the settlement, however Azerbaijan still pretends that those statements do not even exist. It is Azerbaijan, who ignores those five statement, not us. Therefore, our approaches correspond to the approaches of the international community.This is an obvious result. Indeed, there could be more. That is the reason why I say that if the criticism is constructive, it is normal and we have to be pay attention to it.