The Meeting of the Secretaries of the Security Councils of the RA and RF Armen Grigoryan and Nikolay Patrushev Took Place

15 / 09 / 2021

Today, a bilateral meeting of the Armenian and Russian Security Council Secretaries Armen Grigoryan and Nikolay Patrushev took place in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, within the framework of a joint session of the CSTO Council of Foreign Ministers, the Council of Defense Ministers, and the Committee of the Secretaries of Security Councils.

At the beginning of the meeting, welcoming his Russian counterpart, Armen Grigoryan emphasized that the frequency of such bilateral meetings testifies to the deepening of the cooperation between the Offices of the Security Councils of the two countries, as well as the mutual interest in developing security relations between Armenia and Russia.

The secretaries then discussed the situation in the South Caucasus. In this context, Armen Grigoryan presented to his Russian counterpart the situation caused by the Azerbaijani armed forces’ invasion in Syunik and Gegharkunik regions of Armenia's sovereign territory since May, emphasizing that any foreign encroachment on the territory of Armenia is unacceptable, adding that Armenia is ready to start the process of demarcation and delimitation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border as soon as possible.

Speaking about the possibility of establishing lasting peace in the region, Armen Grigoryan stressed that the Government of the Republic of Armenia has declared an "era of peace" which will bring stable peace and development to the South Caucasus region, in this way, emphasizing the importance of the possibility of unblocking all infrastructures.

Nikolai Patrushev also highlighted the need for continuity of the work on the unblocking process, emphasizing that the latter will enable lasting peace in the region.

One of the key issues of the conversation was the issue of prisoners of war, hostages, and other detained persons held by Azerbaijan. Armen Grigoryan once again stressed that according to the November 9 announcement of 2020 all prisoners of war, hostages, and other detainees should be returned to their homeland, while the Azerbaijani side still does not fulfill its obligation in full, expressing hope that due to the efforts of the Russian side, all Armenian prisoners of war will return to the homeland as soon as possible.

In his speech, Nikolay Patrushev, referring to the efforts to resolve the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, attached importance to the intensification of the process within the framework of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs.