Statement by the Foreign Minister of Armenia for the press following the meeting with the Foreign Minister of Georgia
Dear Mr. Minister, dear Ilia,
As always, it is a great pleasure to be in Tbilisi, and as always, I have received the warmest welcome. I want to thank you for this hospitality.
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Indeed, this year is both ordinary for our dynamic relationship and, in some way, quite special. We have sustained an active political dialogue at the highest levels and formats. The 13th session of the intergovernmental commission between Armenia and Georgia was held in Tbilisi earlier this year, co-chaired by the leaders of our two countries. In March, the Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Kobakhidze, visited Armenia. Our inter-parliamentary ties and contacts have also been active, which also play a very important role in the development of our relations.
This year is also special for me, as it marks my first visit to Tbilisi since the establishment of the strategic partnership between Armenia and Georgia. I should note that since the establishment of this partnership, our relations have been enriched with new elements, directions, and components, which is, of course, very gratifying.
Our relations are truly developing rapidly, and we have a rich agenda. In addition to the high-level dialogue I mentioned earlier, Armenia and Georgia are also engaging in effective cooperation across all fields, from the economy to security, from education and culture to tourism, and people-to-people contacts. There is significant progress in mutual trade, and by expanding our cooperation in the customs sphere we can undoubtedly achieve even greater, more significant results and contribute to the further strengthening of both business and people to people contacts.
Armenia and Georgia have also affirmed at the highest level their mutual recognition and respect for each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. We consider it important that a clear mutual understanding has been established between our countries to continue and complete the delimitation and demarcation process in a friendly and cooperative manner.
I also want to particularly emphasize that in the context of the rapid geopolitical and regional developments, it is important that we cooperate and support each other on international and multilateral platforms. As you, dear Mr. Minister, have also mentioned, through our positions and votes, we continue to support each other’s approaches.
Dear colleagues,
Today, we had the opportunity to discuss the situation in the South Caucasus and the developments impacting both Armenia and Georgia.
I would like to emphasize, and you are surely aware of it, you have seen how enthusiastically Armenia received the news of Georgia receiving the candidate status for EU membership, and this is of great importance not only in the context of Armenia-Georgia relations, but also in the context of regional developments in general. I want to inform you that Armenia also has a substantial, essentially new partnership with the EU, a new partnership agenda, and we are discovering horizons together with the EU which were undiscovered until now, at least in the context of Armenia-EU relations, let me put it this way: we are discovering, we define new perspectives and new visions.
I also want to briefly touch upon other regional issues. Armenia remains committed and makes practical efforts towards normalization of relations with the neighbours. We are ready to completely normalize relations with Türkiye, establish diplomatic relations and open the Armenia-Türkiye border. We are committed to turning this vision into reality and implementing the agreed steps. We have a healthy dialogue with Türkiye. We have agreements, as I have already said, and we believe that it’s ripe time to make these agreements a reality on the ground.
On the normalization of our relations with Azerbaijan: we have noticed and appreciated that you have welcomed the delimitation process of the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, a process that took place when both sides agreed on the Alma-Ata Declaration, keeping in mind the territorial integrity and the borders that were established between all our countries since the collapse of the Soviet Union when the borders (administrative borders) between the socialist republics became interstate borders. We attach great importance to the continuation of this delimitation process based on these principles.
In parallel with this, as you said, dear Mr. Minister, there is the peace treaty, and here as well, Armenia is very constructive as before. Armenia’s proposals and approaches are transparent. We hope and consider it realistic, and I have also made a statement that we can complete the peace treaty and sign this very important document with Azerbaijan within a month by working quickly and intensively. I cannot say that this proposal received a positive reaction. On the contrary, we see, and I can say with certainty, that new artificial obstacles are sometimes created to prolong the process. However, we continue to believe that there is indeed a historic opportunity to establish lasting peace in our region. As before, Armenia continues to take a very constructive position and engage in this issue.
I also want to stress the importance of unblocking transport infrastructure from the point of view of peace and stability in the region. We have made a constructive proposal, and we are also constructively determined to unblock the transport infrastructure between Armenia and Azerbaijan. We believe that this vision and this unblocking can be economically beneficial not only for Armenia and Azerbaijan but also for all countries in the region, even countries in the wider region. Moreover, we think that in that case, the project and the unblocking of infrastructure will become an additional component of peace in the region. That is why we came up with the “Crossroads of Peace” initiative. By the way, it is a very interesting fact that the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia presented the “Crossroads of Peace” project for the first time within the framework of the forum in Tbilisi.
Concluding my remarks, I want to thank you once again for our cooperation and warm welcome, dear friend. And, of course, I want to take this opportunity to invite you, Mr. Minister, to visit Yerevan at any time convenient for you.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs