Serzh Sargsyan's Office Responds to Audio Recording of Sargsyan-Lukashenko Conversation

Yesterday evening, the office of Armenia's third President Serzh Sargsyan received numerous inquiries from media outlets regarding an audio recording circulated on Telegram. They sought to clarify the authenticity of the discussion contained in the recording, when and where it took place, and why Serzh Sargsyan has not addressed it until now.

It remains unclear how a private conversation between the leaders held during the October 14, 2016 meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) could have surfaced online. The office of the third President of Armenia acknowledges the publication of the recording as a fact and refrains from commenting, considering that discussions held in a closed format are not subject to interpretation, as has been the case until now.

It is worth noting that a video was shared online yesterday, featuring a discussion between former President Serzh Sargsyan and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. “Give him the regions (of Nagorno-Karabakh), Aliyev will pay, he promised you $5 billion for the first phase,” says Lukashenko. “I’m giving him $6 billion; let him refuse the 7 regions,” responds Serzh Sargsyan.