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Artsakh is ready for direct negotiations with Azerbaijan, but the latter refuses to recognize Artsakh as a party to the conflict, Foreign Minister David Babayan claims.

“We have never opposed a dialogue between Stepanakert and Baku,” he told reporters in Yerevan on Friday. “On the contrary, when Artsakh was partially left out of the negotiation process after 1996-1997, we were constantly calling for the restoration of the full format, which remains high on our agenda to date.”

Meanwhile, the minister highlighted commitment to the OSCE Minsk Group format recognizing Artsakh as a party to both the negotiations and the conflict.

“Azerbaijan refuses to negotiate with Artsakh as a conflicting party, while we insist on restoring the format and holding talks. But if someone thinks that negotiations could be in the tone of “some aboriginal tribe” in the person of Artsakh asking "Mother Azerbaijan" to forget it and to take it back into Azerbaijan, it will never happen,” he underscored.