On May 9, Secretary of the Armenian Security Council Armen Grigoryan said no progress was made in the latest Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations regarding the most important issues.

Grigoryan added that the most important issues concern acknowledging the 29,800 square kilometers of Armenia's sovereign territory, establishing a dialogue between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh, and creating international guarantees of rights and security for the ethnic Armenian population of the Nagorno-Karabakh. Grigoryan said Azerbaijan has been ignoring the tripartite statement of November 9, 2020, according to which the Lachin corridor that links the Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia and the rest of the world must be open to the free movement of people and traffic in both directions, but Azerbaijan has blocked it since last December.

Asked to comment on Blinken's statement about the progress, Grigoryan said the Armenian side clearly stated in a press release that there are differences, which we will work to resolve. Grigoryan said the negotiations now are more bilateral, while the international peace brokers are trying to help the sides achieve progress. "It makes no difference for Armenia where and on what platform the talks are held," Grigoryan said.

"The Azerbaijani troops must leave the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia. This is an obligatory requirement. The signing of a peace treaty is possible only under this condition. As for the international guarantors, the talks are going on, and if we find a solution, we will move forward. There is no final decision now," the official emphasized.