Armenia always in favor of intensive negotiations on NK conflict – FM Nalbandian responds to Azerbaijani statement
Coming up with an invention in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement process is quite difficult. If Azerbaijan gets a bit watchful to those calls which the Co-Chairing countries present as settlement of the conflict, then greater opportunities will be opened for advancing this process and having results, Armenia’s FM Edward Nalbandian told a press conference.
Commenting on the recent statement-demand from Baku on having a specific result from the NK conflict talks, Nalbandian said that Armenia is always in favor of intensive negotiations for the settlement of the NK conflict, because there is no alternative to the negotiations process.
“In this context we highlight the mediation efforts of the Co-Chairing countries aimed at the exclusively peaceful solution of the conflict. Making statements, pretending to be a lamb…..I think they can’t deceive anyone”, the minister said.
He reminded the many urges of the co-chairing sides – to refrain from destructive, maximalist positions, reaffirm commitment to the exclusively peaceful settlement of the conflict. “The Co-Chairs urge to respect and implement the trilateral and termless ceasefire agreement, respect the previously reached agreements. And what is Azerbaijan doing?”, the minister said.
The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stephane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the United States of America) met separately on 14 and 16 November with the Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian and the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov. The Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Andrzej Kasprzyk, also participated in the meetings.
The Co-Chairs issued a statement which says: “The Co-Chairs discussed with the Foreign Ministers concrete steps to implement the agreements reached by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan during the Geneva summit on 16 October 2017, as well as other items raised by the Co-Chairs in Geneva. During the meetings, the Co-Chairs and the Ministers reviewed a number of working proposals currently on the table. The Ministers agreed to hold a joint meeting on the margins of the December 2017 OSCE Ministerial Council in Vienna.
