During an April 21 roundtable discussion with representatives of the Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that a formula to settle the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, which was proposed at the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan in Moscow last year, is being actively discussed.

The formula envisages a step-by-step settlement of the conflict.

Today, during a press conference on April 21 in Yerevan, Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan referred to Lavrov's statement.

"During these two years, our government, Prime Minister Pashinyan, we have been more than transparent. We have expressed our positions and approaches in a very clear way. There were references to many documents in that comment. Such approaches appeared in 2014 and 2016, and those approaches were not acceptable for the Armenian side. Since 2018, discussions have been limited to individual elements, referring to a discussion of the parties' approaches and evaluation. The version proposed in 2014 is not a document on the negotiating table today,” Mnatsakanyan said.

Mnatsakanyan noted that the security component in the negotiation process is a priority for the two Armenian sides.

 "No Armenian side cannot reconsider it, thus endangering the security of the people of Artsakh. It is impossible to assume that any of the Armenian parties can make concessions that could endanger the security of the people of Artsakh,” Mnatsakanyan said.

Mnatsakanyan recalled that one of the main principles of the ongoing negotiations is the right to self-determination, which is a priority for the Armenian parties in the ongoing negotiations.

 "We called it security and status. The expression of the right to self-determination means the clarification of the status - the right to free will without restrictions. Peaceful settlement is possible through compromises. There have been no concessions and there will be none. The Armenian sides will not take any approach that would imply a security threat to the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, especially given that this threat remains real and existential.”

Mnatsakanyan said that compromises must be proportionate and that they encompass the full expression of security and status elements.

“This has been the approach of the Armenian side during these past two years. We have spoken about this more than clearly. If anyone assumes that we can do something else during the negotiations, talk to the public about something else, they are quite wrong. There has never been and will never be such a thing. Such a thing is not logical, because no representative of Armenia can do such a thing,” Mnatsakanyan said.