Yerevan /Mediamax/. State minister of Artsakh Ruben Vardanyan said he is surprised that despite the fact that Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev "subjected 120,000 people to a blockade, there are people in Davos who shake hands with him.”

“We are surrounded by Azerbaijan with 10 million of population, plus another 80 million live in Turkey, its ally. There are 120 thousand of us here in Artsakh. And next to us are two thousand Russian soldiers. And you want me to throw a stone at them? To make things worse? This is madness from the point of view of the instinct of self-preservation!” Ruben Vardanyan said in an interview with Meduza.

“I would like not only Russia, but also UK and France to act tough too! Why is Aliyev still being invited to Davos, for example? He subjected 120,000 people to a blockade, and in Davos they shake hands with him. In this sense, I have many questions to many countries. Sanctions are needed – not against the state of Azerbaijan, but personally against the decision-makers there. Against people whose children study in England or France. Against those who consider themselves part of a civilized club,” the Artsakh state minister said.

“I already said once in an interview: ‘It is difficult to imagine how a country which cannot ensure human rights of its own people will provide them to a national minority.’ Autocratic, despotic sultanate in Azerbaijan – what rights does it provide for its own population?” Ruben Vardanyan noted.