Armenian FM: We are not negotiating on handing over villages of Tavush region

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan confirmed that Armenia had frozen its participation in the CSTO.

“Unfortunately, in the conditions when the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia was attacked and occupied and the internationally recognized borders of the Republic of Armenia were violated, we did not see that our CSTO partners perceived the facts and the wording the way we presented: violation of the borders and occupation of the sovereign territory. This raises questions on the Armenian side. Until we have the answers to these questions, we have frozen our participation to some extent,” Mirzoyan announced in the National Assembly.

He said that Armenia made very active efforts to formulate mutually acceptable wording with the CSTO partners, which could be used to address what happened with Armenia.

“Eventually, we saw that these efforts were not successful,” the foreign minister noted.

Mirzoyan stressed that no official of Armenia has the right to conduct any negotiations regarding handing over not only the Tavush region but also anything from Armenia’s territory.

“No one can hand over villages from the Tavush region to any other country. We are not negotiating on handing over the villages of the Tavush region,” he said.