Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan says Artsakh President Bako Sahakyan’s first-ever visit to Washington is very important.
“Artsakh is de facto independent state that conducts its own foreign policy,” Kocharyan told reporters today.
He added that the policy is naturally restricted because of the lack of international recognition.
Shavarsh Kocharyan said the US has a more multi-layer foreign policy, which is connected with both the independence of the Congress, among others.
“Congressmen often express ideas that do not always coincide with the opinion of the White House and affect the foreign policy to a certain extent,” the Deputy Foreign Minister noted.
He reminded the US even allocates a certain amount in aid to Nagorno Karabakh from its budget annually.
Speaking about the large scale military exercises currently under way in Azerbaijan, the Deputy FM said “we follow the developments, and we must always be ready for any step on the part of Azerbaijan.
“In this particular case there can be different explanations, including the pre-election period,” Mr. Kocharyan said. He added, however, that “we must always be on the alert.”
Speaking about the relations with Turkey, the Deputy Foreign Minister said “Armenia is always ready to normalize ties, but without any precondition,” but added that “we have not received any offer.”
