A little while e ago, the bilateral meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan ended in Sochi. It should be noted that today in Sochi, the tripartite summit of the leaders of Russia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan will take place.

At the meeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in particular, stated, "We have already started these negotiations in Astana. But now we are implementing your initiative to solve this important issue. Earlier, there was a meeting of CSTO leaders on your initiative. We see what was happening on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and around Karabakh. This conflict has been going on for decades, and it should be ended eventually. I know that you have political will, and we support it. It is necessary to find key points and move forward now and in a tripartite format. The most important thing is to maintain peace and create conditions for economic development, including the issues of de-blockade and opening of borders. That is why we should talk about all these issues today. We start from the point that Armenia is our ally and strategic partner."

In his turn, RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan spoke about establishing peace in the region, unblocking infrastructure and demarcation and delimitation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. Nikol Pashinyan, in particular, stated: "I want to focus on regional security issues. In Valda, you mentioned that you will defend the points that will express the approaches of the Armenian side. Regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, the basic parameters and proposals offered by the Russian version for the establishment of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan are acceptable to us. I hope you will support this document, which can be the basis for a possible statement as a result of our trilateral meeting today. Armenia proposed it, but until now we do not have the confirmation of the Russian side's support. I want to emphasize that all this does not in any way contradict the agreements reached in Prague, and by the way, during the negotiations in Prague, I was guided, including by your public statements.

The withdrawal of Azerbaijani troops from the zone of responsibility of the Russian peacekeepers is very important for us, I hope that this issue will be resolved by the results of today's discussion. As for the demarcation and delimitation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, it must be preceded by an increase in the level of security and stability of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. Russia's position was that the work of the delimitation commission would become a border security mechanism. To tell the truth, we did not share that approach at that time, but we decided to rely on the interpretation of our strategic ally. Despite this, on September 13 of this year, Azerbaijan unleashed aggression against Armenia and occupied new territories of our country. It is very important for us to take a clear position of Russia in this matter, with the demand to withdraw the Azerbaijani troops to the withdrawal positions. Communications passing through the territory of Armenia must be fully under the authority of Armenia and operated in accordance with the laws of Armenia. The FSB border guard service of the Russian Federation should supervise the implementation of the above-mentioned agreements. I want to emphasize the importance of the repatriation of all RA citizens held in Azerbaijan. Despite the fact that we have discussed this issue with you many times, it has not been resolved until now.

I would like to thank you once again for your efforts towards peace, stability and security in the South Caucasus."