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Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan reiterated his administration’s commitment to defend the Artsakh people’s right to self-determination in an interview to the Public TV Company late on Thursday, stressing it is “non-negotiable”.

“The Artsakh people’s right to self-determination is not subject to discussion,” Harutyunyan said. “We never even think about Artsakh being a part of Azerbaijan. We have had and will continue to have our de facto independence.”

The president stressed the need to push ahead with the efforts towards Artsakh’s international recognition.

“We still have a long way to go to achieve Artsakh’s de jure recognition. The struggle must continue in the international arena, with friendly countries that respect democracy and human rights,” he noted.

Harutyunyan claimed the international actors engaged in the negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan “subordinate the Artsakh conflict and don’t make beneficial proposals.”

“However, it does not prevent us from exercising the UN Charter norm of self-determination of nations, and our struggle will be in compliance with it. We have no desire to concede,” he stressed.