No meeting of representatives of Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) will take place in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, due to Baku's refusal, the chairman of the Anti-crisis Commission under the President of Artsakh Tigran Petrosyan said Monday, July 31.
“A meeting of the representatives of Karabakh and Azerbaijan was planned in Bratislava for August 1 with the mediation of the United States of America and the European Union, but yesterday Azerbaijan rejected to participate in the meeting without explanation,” Petrosyan said.
According to him, Moscow is trying to organize a similar meeting in Azerbaijan, either in Yevlakh or Baku.
“But we know perfectly well that dialogue is impossible. We understand what will be discussed there. The U.S. and Europe tried to organize a meeting in Sofia. Finding out about this, Russia entered the game, organized a meeting on July 25 in Moscow, during which [Russian Foreign Minister] Sergey Lavrov called us representatives of national minorities, which is unacceptable for us, and which shows the real policy of the Russian authorities,” Petrosyan said.
According to him, delegates from Western countries will arrive in Yerevan this week to discuss the possibility of organizing a meeting between representatives of Stepanakert and Baku.
Since December 12, 2022, the sole road connecting Nagorno Karabakh to Armenia – the Lachin Corridor – has been blocked by Azerbaijan. Baku tightened the blockade on June 15, 2023, banning emergency relief supplies that were carried out by Russian peacekeepers and the International Committee of the Red Cross through the sole road connecting Karabakh to Armenia and the outside world. The move aggravated the shortages of food, medicine and other essential items experienced by the region’s population.
