On January 17, in Krakow Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian met with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Igor Popov, Stephane Visconti, Andrew Schofer and Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk.
Edward Nalbandian thanked the Co-Chairs for the initiative to organize a meeting between the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan and stressed that, as always, the Armenian side participates in all meetings with a constructive mood.
Edward Nalbandian emphasized that Armenia, along with the Co-Chair countries, will continue to seek ways for the implementation of agreements reached at the Vienna, St. Petersburg and Geneva Summits, as well as the proposals of the Co-Chairs aimed at creating conducive conditions for the advancement of the negotiation process, particularly those related to the reduction of tension in the conflict zone, strict adherence to the trilateral ceasefire agreements of 1994-1995, expansion of the monitoring capabilities of the Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, establishment of a mechanism for investigation of ceasefire violations.
Foreign Minister of Armenia noted that if Baku abides to the calls of the Co-Chairs to strictly respect the ceasefire, implements previously reached agreements, constructively engages in the negotiations, reiterates its adherence to the principles of the conflict resolution proposed by the Co-Chairs then it will be possible to pave the way to move the peace process forward. “Baku often claims that allegedly it is interested in changing the status quo. It is obvious that the implementation of the above-mentioned measures is the practical way to achieve this. The Co-Chairs have stated for years that the principles and elements proposed by them for the stage-by-stage implementation of the package settlement have been elaborated as an integrated whole and the attempts to select one of them over others would make it impossible to achieve a solution. The sooner Baku realizes this, the sooner it will be possible to put the settlement process in the practical course,” emphasized Minister Nalbandian.
The Foreign Minister of Armenia also highlighted that the recent statements made by the Azerbaijani officials regarding the preservation of cultural heritage are at least bewildering, since it was Azerbaijan itself that for years has been consistently annihilating the Armenian monuments and historic sites while at the same time refusing to allow international fact-finding missions to Jugha and other places.
Upon the initiative of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, the meeting of Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan Edward Nalbandian and Elmar Mammadyarov is scheduled to be held on January 18 in Krakow.
