Dear Paolo,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am glad to welcome today in Yerevan my good friend, Paolo Gentiloni, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy.
Armenian-Italian relations have a millennia-old history, with remarkable expressions of mutual friendship and good traditions, which serve as a solid basis for the further strengthening and deepening of the cooperation.
My colleague and I had quite substantial discussions on various issues of bilateral and multilateral agenda, current international and regional problems.
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Together with the Foreign Minister of Italy, we exchanged views on the steps to be undertaken towards the further development of cooperation between our countries, touched upon the expansion of legal framework, which now comprises three dozen documents, discussed prospects of intensifying the interparliamentary contacts and giving a new impetus to the trade and economic cooperation, attached importance to the intensification of exchanges in the areas of science, education and culture.
We valued the Joint Declaration regarding the Creation of a Regional Center of Preservation of Cultural Heritage in Armenia, which was signed today. We are grateful to the Government of Italy for its significant assistance in this field. We are convinced, that the establishment of the Center will further deepen our cooperation in the areas of culture and education.
We commended the cooperation in defense sphere. In this context, we appreciated the service of the Armenian peacekeepers side by side with the Italian contingent within the UNIFIL mission in Southern Lebanon for the provision of security and stability in Lebanon.
Minister Gentiloni and I discussed the ongoing negotiations on a new framework agreement between Armenia and the EU.
As I mentioned, my Italian colleague and I touched upon a number of current regional issues, particularly, developments in the Middle East, the Syrian crisis, migration flows, international counter terrorist activities.
In 2018, Italy will assume the OSCE Chairmanship. In this regard, we reflected on the approaches of the Italian Chairmanship in the Organization.
Naturally, the the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process was on the agenda of the talks. I informed Minister Gentiloni on the efforts exerted by Armenia and the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs for the creation of conductive conditions for the advancement of negotiation process.
At the same time, I would like to highlight for Italy, as the future OSCE Chairmanship, the importance of supporting the efforts of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs, and the three principles of the international law – refraining from the threat or use of force, peoples right to self-determination, and territorial integrity – proposed by them as an integrated whole, as the basis for the exclusively peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Now I would like to pass the floor to Minister Gentiloni.
Please, Paolo.
Armenia TV: Minister Nalbandian, the Co-Chairs stated that Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan will hold a meeting in December. What are our expectations from that meeting?
Edward Nalbandian: First, I would like to say that the Co-Chairs did not make such a statement. It comes solely from one of the Co-Chairs who expressed hope that such meeting may take place. Azerbaijan replied about its readiness to take part in it. However, the statements coming from Azerbaijan are contradictory: on the one hand they claim that they are ready to participate in meetings initiated by the Co-Chair countries, while on the other hand their statements, in fact, contradict the approaches of the Co-Chairs. Azerbaijan applies maximalist approaches, stating that the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement could be based only on one principle of the International Law.
I would like to remind, that the Co-Chairs have repeatedly stated that the settlement can be reached based on the three principles of the International Law – refraining from the threat or use of force, peoples right to self-determination, and territorial integrity. The Co-Chairs have outlined on numerous occasions that those principles, as well as the elements proposed by them on the basis of those principles, have been elaborated as an integrated whole. Any attempt to select some principles and elements over others would make it impossible to achieve a solution. Baku should determine whether it indeed wants to continue the negotiations within the format of Co-Chairmanship. Since, while declaring its readiness to participate in the meetings in this framework, at the same time it opposes to the proposals of the Co-Chairs, which serve as the basis of the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement process.
Otherwise, the mere participation to those meetings becomes a matter of imitation by Azerbaijan. Their participation in Vienna and St. Petersburg summits is the proof of that. They participated, but what purpose did it serve?
Ever since the Vienna and St. Petersburg summits Baku refuses to implement the reached agreements. It spares no efforts to undermine the implementation of those agreements. Those who had doubts, that Azerbaijan could drastically escalate the situation, got clear proofs of that as a result of the large scale military actions unleashed by Azerbaijan at the beginning of this April.
Following the April aggression the joint efforts exerted by the Co-Chairs and Armenia are aimed at the creation of conductive conditions for the advancement of settlement process.
It should be emphasised that Armenia has never refused to meet. Armenia participates at the meetings and has also accepted the framework proposed by the Co-Chairs for the negotiations. And here is the very difference between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
It is worth mentioning that just several months ago Azerbaijan has been refusing to meet with the Co-Chairs at all and has been labeling them useless tourists.
Of course we are ready to participate in the meetings. Such possibility will depend on the developments ahead of Hamburg Ministerial, as before each and every important international meeting Azerbaijan, as a rule, escalates the situation in the conflict zone. And now again it has announced about the holding of large-scale military drills with the engagement of 60 thousand troops, almost entire personnel strength of armed forces, tanks, missiles, aviation and others. This is a blatant violation of the Vienna Document, which commits to notify forty-two days in advance, if at least nine thousand troops are involved in the military exercises.
However, the issue is not merely about notifying or not. Ahead of the Hamburg OSCE Ministerial Council Azerbaijan resolves to such a, I would say, provocative step. Moreover, Azerbaijan has intensified the violations of ceasefire regime in the conflict zone.
The format of meeting in Hamburg on Nagorno-Karabakh has not been finalized yet. We will see, It depends on the developments, and proposals presented by the Co-Chairs on the organization of such meetings. But one thing I can say for sure – there will be a meeting with the Co-Chairs.
Thank you!