Masis Mayilyan: The impossibility of discussing byYerevan and Baku  issues under the exclusive competence of Stepanakert is one of the  mechanisms for the return of Artsakh to the negotiations

ArmInfo. Striving for the return of Artsakh to the negotiation process, the restoration of the trilateral format of the negotiations, Yerevan and Stepanakert  proceed from the need to achieve real progress in resolving the  Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the  Artsakh Republic Masis Mayilyan expressed such an opinion to ArmInfo.

"We believe that all the necessary prerequisites for this have long  been overdue. The tripartite negotiation format, as time has shown,  proved to be the most effective and efficient. Trilateral agreement  on the cessation of hostilities in May 1994 under Russian mediation  was concluded in this very format. This was the only tangible result  in the settlement process, "the diplomat said.

Mayilyan assesses the formula for success of the trilateral  negotiation format, when each of the parties directly represented  their interests, discussing the issues of their competence as  quite  simple. In his opinion, the return and the very process of  Stepanakert's participation in the negotiations can be based on a  similar formula.

According to the diplomat, the intention expressed by Prime Minister  Pashinyan to negotiate exclusively on behalf of Armenia means the  impossibility of discussing issues under exclusive competence and  powers of the Artsakh authorities between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

According to the diplomat, the intention expressed by Prime Minister  Pashinyan to negotiate exclusively on behalf of Armenia means the  impossibility of discussing issues under exclusive competence and  powers of the Artsakh authorities between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

"Evaluating this position of Yerevan as objective, we believe that  such an approach may well become one of the mechanisms for  Stepanakert's return to the negotiation process," the minister  stressed.

Since 1992, the OSCE Minsk Group, represented by the co-chairs from  Russia, the United States and France, has been involved in resolving  the Karabakh conflict. Since the signing of the trilateral agreement  on the establishment of a truce between the parties to the Karabakh  conflict, almost a quarter of a century has passed. And all these  years, surges of murders on the  Line of Contact have been  interspersed with negotiations towards peace.

However, since the end of last year, the killings have practically  stopped, and the OSCE MG mediators, Baku and Yerevan, have started  talking about the need to prepare the parties to the conflict for  peace.