First Meeting Between Stepanakert and Baku Ends with Zero Results

As is known, the first meeting between Stepanakert and Baku took place on March 1. Aliyev had promised to appoint a negotiator in Munich, designating Milli Mejlis deputy Ramin Mamedov. Also present was Masim Mamedov, the head of the group investigating the illegal exploitation of natural resources.

From the Armenian side, Secretary of the Artsakh Security Council Samvel Shahramanyan, former Security Council employee Sergey Martirosyan, and the owner of the Kashen mine participated. The commander of the peacekeepers, Andrey Volkov, was also present.

Although Artsakhpress reported that “specific agreements have been reached on all agenda items discussed, which the Azerbaijani side has pledged to report to its superiors and inform the Artsakh side about the results in the coming days, through the peacekeeping contingent,” the meeting was not effective.

The Azerbaijanis attempted to steer the conversation towards “issues of the reintegration of the Armenian population of the Nagorno-Karabakh region into Azerbaijan,” releasing similar information later. However, the Armenian side refused to discuss “political issues,” noting that there are specific formats for addressing such matters—one being the Minsk Group and the other the format of trilateral meetings. They stated they were only mandated to discuss issues of opening corridors, restoring gas and electricity supply, and at most, organizing a one-time visit to the Kashen and Drmbon mines.

In essence, the meeting concluded with zero results, and no agreements were reached regarding future meetings.