Armenia did not boycott the meeting of Russian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers held in Moscow, Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan said in an interview with Public TV.

"The Armenian side has always been constructive, including in the last two years, during negotiations after the war. It is difficult to continue negotiations in conditions of crisis and threats. We did not go because there was a crisis in Lachin. We need a massive effort to open the Lachin corridor as soon as possible. Our entire political team and those responsible for foreign policy are working on this issue. We have assessed the situation and realized that this is the best option to coordinate our actions," Grigoryan said.

Regarding the remark that the step might create a crisis in relations between Armenia and Russia, the Secretary of the Security Council assured that Armenia had not taken such a step to create a crisis.

On December 22 the Armenian Foreign Ministry made a statement that Ararat Mirzoyan would not attend the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan on December 23 in Moscow, after which Lavrov made a rather harsh assessment of Mirzoyan's decision at the press conference.

Mirzoyan also responded rather harshly to his Russian counterpart, refuting his statement that the Russian side had learned about the Armenian side's decision to postpone the meeting not through diplomatic channels, as is customary, but from the press service of the Armenian Foreign Ministry. Ararat Mirzoyan said the Armenian side's request to postpone the meeting was forwarded to the Central Office of Russian Foreign Ministry and Russian Embassy in Armenia.

27 December 2022 / 11:10