Presidents of Armenia, Russia have not discussed deployment of peacekeepers in Artsakh

The Presidents of Armenia and Russia have not discussed the deployment of peacekeeping forces in Artsakh at a recent meeting in Sochi.

“We have not held any discussion on peacekeeping forces or any similar issue. I’ve briefly presented the situation at the line of contact and our vision of Azerbaijan’s intentions,” Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said at a Q&A with participants of Baze youth gathering.

The President said he sees no or little connection between his meeting with Russia’s Vladimir Putin and the statement of outgoing US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Richard Hoagland.

“Hoagland is leaving the post and he was free to express his conclusions, because being an acting Co-Chair is one thing, while being retired is a different thing. His predecessor did the same  if you remember,” President Sargsyan said.

“As for Hoagland’s statements, there was nothing new to me. However, for many it was a proof that our position and our meetings had been interpreted incorrectly. The provisions were brought forward more than 10 years ago and have been referred to on many occasions by the heads of co-chairing countries since,” Serzh Sargsyan said.

“This is just a generalized approach. We’ll need to work for days, weeks and months to documents the provisions, as every word, every comma in that document is of great importance,” President Sargsyan stated.