Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan gave an interview to "Azatutyun" radio station, referring to the reasons for refusing to participate in the tripartite meeting scheduled for December 23 and the thoughts expressed by the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister in Moscow.

- During the press conference with the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan in Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed his surprise that the news about the non-participation of the Armenian Foreign Minister in the tripartite meeting scheduled for December 23 was learned from the press release of the Armenian side, and not through diplomatic channels. How would you interpret that?

- I am also surprised by the surprise of my esteemed colleague Sergey Lavrov. Taking into account the humanitarian crisis caused by Azerbaijan's illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor, the request of the Armenian side to postpone the meeting between the Foreign Ministers of Russia and Azerbaijan scheduled in Moscow and me was forwarded by the RA MFA and the RA Embassy in Russia to both the representatives of the central apparatus of the RF MFA and to the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Armenia. Otherwise, it is inexplicable how the Russian MFA could announce the non-departure of the Armenian side to Moscow much sooner than the RA MFA would have reported it and its reasons.

- In Minister Lavrov's speech, there was also a conviction about the continuation of incidents if one of the parties refuses to participate in the pre-agreed negotiations every time. In your opinion, how should this be perceived?

- The Armenian side has pointed out the reason and necessity of postponing the meeting. Agree it is difficult to have constructive and productive discussions in the face of constant threats and new manifestations of the use of force. As for the belief about the continuation of these manifestations, in 2020, the tripartite declaration of November 9 and the Russian peacekeeping troops in Nagorno-Karabakh are meant to exclude such opinions.

- During the press conference with Sergey Lavrov, Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Bayramov said that in November 2020, Armenia promised to "liberate" 8 villages but did not fulfill this agreement. How would you interpret that?

- As we have stated many times, the Armenian side did not undertake such a commitment either with the tripartite statement of November 9 or any other way. Nothing other than written, signed, and published agreements do not exist. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, talking about such fictitious contracts, is trying to justify his country's continuous and gross violations of the provisions of the tripartite declaration on November 9. At the same time, it is necessary to remind you that Armenia has repeatedly proposed the withdrawal of troops and the deployment of the armed forces of Armenia and Azerbaijan along the administrative border between the Armenian and Azerbaijani SSRs.